Okay, we have reached a quorum.

Wow, this feels louder than normal.

Um I'm going to call our meeting to order.

It is Tuesday, May 6th, 2025.

And I'm calling to order the special meeting of the Berkeley City Council.

Clerk, can you please take the role?

Yes, Councilmember Kirstenwani is currently absent.

Kaplan is currently absent.

Bartlett is currently absent.

Councilmember Trigum.

Present O'Keefe.

I am here.

Blackaby.

Here.

Lunapara.

Here.

Humber is currently absent.

And Mayor Ishii.

Here.

Okay, quorum is present.

Okay.

Today's special meeting item is a presentation and discussion.

Um Brown Act training from the City Attorney's Office.

So thank you all so much for being here.

I'm going to pass it over to you.

And thank you, by the way, to all the staff that are here as well.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Thanks for allowing us to come before you and present on the Brown Act, which is essentially the sunshine laws that are enshrined in in California state law.

And we have our own sort of mini version of it in.

Can you hear me?

Just go ahead and pull it closer to you.

Yeah.

Got it.

Okay.

And yeah.

Right up in your mouth.

I know it's close, but it'll help us.

Perfect.

I have the whole team here.

We have Sam Harvey.

Um, Deputy City Attorney Sam Harvey, who is very familiar and super ingrained in Brown Act issues and advises on Brown Brown Act issues and conflict issues all the time.

Uh Steve.

Heilis.

Um actually both of them are also secretaries to the open government commission.

So it's a very appropriate role for them to be here.

Um myself and we have Nate Dahl, who's the assistant to the city attorney, and um did a tremendous job putting this presentation together for us.

We can still write in.

All right, good afternoon.

So jumping right in, um, the basics of the Brown Act are to ensure that the public's business is done in public.

All meetings of legislative bodies are open to the public, adequately noticed, stick to the agenda, and allow the public to speak on agenda items and on any non-agenda matter within the council's jurisdiction.

All legislative bodies of the city are covered by the Brown Act.

That includes the City Council, Council Committees, Commissions and Boards, and any bodies that are created by charter ordinance resolution or formal action of a legislative body.

An ad hoc committee is not a legislative body covered by the Brown Act.

This is a narrow exception.

Um has to be less than a quorum of the legislative body, nor no formally fixed meeting schedule, no continuing purpose, so not a standing committee, and it's advisory to the parent body, like the council.

So agenda requirements.

Um agendas must be posted 72 hours before a regular meeting or 24 hours before a special meeting.

The Berkeley City Council regular meet uh uh meeting agendas are posted 11 days before the meeting, so even more um than the requirement in the interest of giving the the public advanced notice of the uh items being discussed at the meeting.

The notice must include the time and place of the meeting and provide a general description of each item of business, sufficient to provide the public with notice of what will be discussed and what action might be taken.

Um the legislative body must not take action or discuss any items that are not on a posted agenda.