Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Governance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Needles council reviews draft social media policy after legal guidance to avoid Brown Act pitfalls
Summary
Council received a draft social media policy and legal guidance cautioning that councilmember social posts could trigger Brown Act issues; the city attorney recommended limits on expressing positions and said the law now treats communications between two members as a potential violation.
Council discussed a draft social media policy designed to centralize city accounts, limit content to city informational posts and protect the city from Brown Act violations.
City attorney counsel emphasized recent changes to the law and advised that councilmembers may use social media to provide information, answer public questions and solicit information, but should avoid communicating positions on pending matters or interacting in ways that could create a serial meeting. "Council members may use social media to answer questions from the public to provide information to the public and to solicit information from the public," the city attorney said, adding that councilmembers "should not communicate your position" on pending matters because even an emoji or a reply could create a Brown Act violation under the amended rule.
Policy features under review include restricting city pages to informational content, disabling commenting on official city posts, requiring staff or the city manager to manage accounts, and clarifying that city posts are subject to public‑records rules. Council provided feedback and the city attorney and staff said they would return with a formal resolution at a future meeting for adoption.
The discussion was procedural; no final adoption occurred. Councilmembers acknowledged the policy balances public engagement with the need to avoid inadvertent Brown Act violations.
