Passing Your Own "Sunshine" Law

The best way to ensure open government is by passing a local government "sunshine" ordinance that requires local agencies to make extra efforts to do government business in the open. The following links will guide you through the reasons and process for passing a local open government ordinance.

• Why State Sunshine Laws Are Only the Beginning
• What's the Effect of a Local Sunshine Law?
• What Does It Take to Get a Sunshine Law Passed?
• Getting Started: Contact CFAC

Why State Sunshine Laws Are Only the Beginning

Anyone with experience as a local government watchdog knows that the laws supporting access to public meetings and government records don't accomodate the needs of a citizens attempting to be informed participants in their government.

The Brown Act and the California Public Records Act simply don't always guarantee the quality, ease or completeness of informed participation in local government that citizens might desire. And changing these state laws can be a daunting task. In recent years attempts to reform open government laws have met with aggressive, well-marshalled opposition from lobbyists maintained in Sacramento by statewide local government associations. These lobbyists far outnumber the few full-time advocates for freedom of information and expression, and their resources are impressive -- drawing as they do on dues paid by tax-supported agencies.

Do citizens have to wait for state law to change in order to get better access policy from their city councils, county supervisors, school boards and special district directors? Fortunately, no.

An often overlooked aspect of both the Brown Act and the Public Records Act is that they do not pre-empt or discourage local agencies from adopting their own more accommodating rules. On the contrary, these statutes expressly authorize public agencies to do so.

The Brown Act provides, in Government Code Section 54953.7:

"Notwithstanding any other provision of law, legislative bodies of local agencies may impose requirements upon themselves which allow greater access to their meetings than prescribed by the minimum standards set forth in this chapter..." (emphasis added)

The Public Records Act provides, in Government Code Section 6253.1:

"Except as otherwise prohibited by law, a state or local agency may adopt requirements for itself which allow greater access to records than prescribed by the minimum standards set forth in this chapter..." (emphasis added)

Thus the Brown Act and Public Records Act, by their own terms, are not a ceiling on the access rights that citizens may expect of their government, but a floor below which their rights may not descend: "minimum standards" for public participation and information.

With the encouragement and assistance of the California First Amendment Coalition (CFAC), three local jurisdictions in the state have so far adopted their own improved access rules. The City and County of San Francisco adopted its Sunshine Ordinance in the summer of 1993, and shortly thereafter the City of Richmond adopted a version applying to records only. In early 1995 the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors enacted an even further-reaching law than San Francisco's -- its Better Government Ordinance.

Back to menu

What's the Effect of a Local Sunshine Law?

The beauty of this approach is its flexibility. The law you propose to your local body can be one most responsive to the recurrent procedural and policy problems that exist. CFAC has drafted a Model Local Public Information Policy with provisions that should be covered in any "Sunshine" ordinance. Some agencies do not adopt ordinances, but nothing precludes them from adopting open government rules or even pledges they will abide by.

Here are some goals for government "sunshine":

• Extend open meeting requirements to more situations
• Require earlier or better access to agenda-related information
• Reduce the frequency of closed sessions
• Require more disclosure about closed session actions
• Identify high-interest categories of records or information to be disclosed readily
• Set an expedited schedule for producing records
• Provide for free or low-cost access to records
• Make computer-stored information more accessible
• Make explanations more specific when access is denied
• Provide a ready response to simple queries and requests
• Champion the free expression rights of public employees and elected officials;
• Create a permanent oversight commission of citizens to assure that the sunshine law works.

Contra Costa County's Better Government Ordinance, adopted early in 1994, provides one example of how the model looks when transformed into official policy.

Back to menu

What Does It Take to Get a Sunshine Law Passed?

The indispensable elements so far have been:

A Body Open to Change--No matter how hard you try, it will be difficult-to-impossible to pass a sunshine ordinance through a council or board that has a majority frightened of or hostile to greater and more informed public participation.  In such circumstances the cause isn't lost forever, but will have to wait for one or more new elected members with the will to take it seriously. This transition has happily occurred at a handful of local governments.

An Effective Author -- That is, an elected public official on the local body who will lead the effort to get his or her peers to adopt the measure. This torch bearer must be politically adept with the combination of intelligence, insight and credibility needed to secure support for what some might otherwise view as threatening.

Prominent Media Backing -- It's not essential that a newspaper be the leading proponent of the measure, but at least one influential newspaper has to let the agency in question know that it considers the measure very important, and underscore that point by having its top executives -- the editor and publisher -- on the scene to boost the process along.

A Knowledgeable Attorney Guide -- Ending up with rules that actually improve on existing state law requires the extended attention and advice of a lawyer who knows what those requirements are and what specific language will or won't make a difference in the final product. While the body's own attorney may be knowledgeable, it's vital to have a counselor of your own to be active in the negotiation and review process. CFAC can supply or suggest an effective attorney for this role.

A Core of Committed Citizen Participants -- Both independent civic activists and organizational representatives from groups like the League of Women Voters, the Parent-Teachers Association, a business or taxpayer group, or a homeowners or senior citizens association are needed to help garner support sunshine law efforts. These people should help advise and lobby for the proposal from the outset.

About Six Months of Patient Negotiation -- It takes time to negotiate fair terms for a local sunshine ordinance. Numerous meetings need to be held between supporters and agency staffs and attorneys. These negotiations are required to fine-tune whatever proposals the process starts with into something that resolves   the predictable host of reservations, alarms and objections that will be expressed by those whose work routines or responsibilities will be affected by the new rules. Six months may seems like a long time, but working through the details and building support take many hours of work.

Back to menu

Getting Started: Contact CFAC

If you'd like your county, city or other local agency to adopt a Sunshine policy, you can start brainstorming by calling CFAC General Counsel Terry Francke at (916) 974-8891, or sending him e-mail.