City attorney leads Brown Act training for Los Banos council, outlines new remote and translation rules

City Attorney Mary Lerner led a Brown Act training for the Los Banos City Council on May 8, reviewing the state open‑meeting law, rules for remote participation, public‑records obligations and the legal consequences of violating the law.

Lerner opened by framing local authority under federal, state and local law and explained that Los Banos operates under the council–manager form of government. “We exist to serve the people here in Los Banos,” she said, linking open‑government principles to the council’s duties.

The session covered key Brown Act principles: meetings of the legislative body must be open and public, agendas must give the public notice of matters to be discussed, and deliberations that create a collective concurrence must occur in public. Lerner cautioned that sequential one‑on‑one communications (a “chain” meeting) and one person repeatedly polling colleagues (a “hub‑and‑spoke” pattern) can constitute prohibited deliberation.

She summarized recent changes affecting…