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City attorney briefs Santa Rosa Housing Authority on Brown Act and conflict‑of‑interest rules
Summary
Chief Assistant City Attorney Sabrina Wolfson reviewed the Brown Act, serial‑meeting prohibitions, public‑comment rules and conflict‑of‑interest standards (Political Reform Act, Gov. Code §1090 and common‑law bias); commissioners asked practical questions about permissible contacts and staff distribution of materials.
Sabrina Wolfson, Chief Assistant City Attorney and serving as general counsel for the Authority, gave a study session overview of California’s open‑meeting and conflict laws, explaining the Brown Act, serial‑meeting prohibitions and the financial and contractual conflict rules that apply to commissioners.
Wolfson said the Brown Act requires openness for meetings of a legislative body and defines a meeting broadly to mean a congregation of a majority of commissioners to hear, discuss, deliberate or take action on matters within the Authority’s subject matter jurisdiction. She emphasized two frequent pitfalls: serial meetings (daisy‑chain or hub‑and‑spoke communications among a majority of commissioners) and sharing of other commissioners’ views through staff, which can create an inadvertent serial meeting.
Wolfson walked through exceptions…
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