Council Amends Sunshine Ordinance to Streamline Advisory Body Meetings

The Riverside City Council approved changes to the city's Sunshine Ordinance Tuesday, April 22, that will reduce agenda notice requirements for advisory bodies from 12 days to three business days, aiming to improve efficiency while maintaining transparency.

The amendments, recommended by the Governmental Processes Committee, create a distinction between policy-making bodies and advisory bodies in how the open meeting rules apply to each.

"The 12-day agenda notice requirement for these meeting bodies slows down their effectiveness and limits their responsiveness and their impact," City Clerk Donesia Gause explained during her presentation to the council.

Under the revised ordinance, policy-making bodies like the City Council, Planning Commission, Board of Public Utilities, Community Police Review Commission, Board of Ethics and Charter Review Commission will maintain the 12-day notice requirement. Advisory bodies, which make up 12 of the city's 16 boards and commissions, will follow a three-business-day notice requirement instead of the 72-hour minimum outlined in the Brown Act, California's open meeting law.

The Sunshine Ordinance, adopted in 2015 and amended in 2017, expanded open meeting requirements beyond what's mandated by the Brown Act. It originally applied to the City Council, council committees, Planning Commission, Board of Public Utilities and Community Police Review Commission before being expanded to all boards and commissions.

Senior Deputy City Attorney Ruth Ann Solera explained that the Brown Act "sets a floor" for open meeting requirements, which Riverside chose to exceed with its Sunshine Ordinance.

"The Brown Act is a state law that governs open meetings for all local bodies. And the key concepts of the Brown Act are the open and public meetings of legislative bodies and the public's right to attend and participate in those meetings," Solera said.

The changes address administrative challenges that have emerged since the ordinance was last updated, including scheduling conflicts that delay commissioners' requests from being addressed promptly. The city's 12 advisory bodies hold approximately 80 meetings annually, according to city records.

During public comment, Jason Hunter from Ward 1 suggested a compromise of five days or three business days for advisory bodies rather than reducing to the minimum 72 hours required by the Brown Act.

"When it was changed back in 2017, we took a lot of these commissions and boards from three days up to 12 days. The reason was because of weekends, in particular long weekends because it allows the city to post things on a Friday. People are busy on the weekends," Hunter said.

The council modified the staff's original recommendation of 72 hours to three business days after hearing Hunter's concerns about weekend accessibility, with Councilmember Philip Falcone noting the change would ensure residents had adequate time to review agendas posted before weekends.

The amendments also clarify the process for exceptions to the ordinance. Ceremonial presentations and items affected by software or hardware impairments will no longer require a two-thirds vote to waive the Sunshine Ordinance. Additionally, all closed session matters authorized under the Brown Act will be exempt from the 12-day notice requirement while maintaining the 72-hour notice requirement.

Councilmember Chuck Conder noted that the Sunshine Ordinance has been in effect for a decade with minimal revisions.

"I think 12 days is too much," Conder said. "We'd see better reports out of our staff. We wouldn't be jamming them in so fast."

Councilmember Jim Perry, who made the motion to approve the changes, emphasized that the amendments aim to be reasonable while maintaining transparency.

"This brings better effectiveness and efficiency to government services," Perry said.

The council unanimously approved the amendments, which include a six-month review to assess their effectiveness and determine if further changes are needed.