Learn how to hold a compliant meeting and explain the various exceptions that allow a governmental body to make decisions behind closed doors.
Open meeting laws shed light on the government’s business. These laws are meant to keep the public informed, hold public officials and employees accountable, and ensure that the government’s actions are transparent. That translates into a host of federal, state, and local laws that regulate how a government meeting must be conducted. This includes notice, agenda, and record-keeping requirements. This webinar will present how to hold a compliant meeting and explain the various exceptions that allow a governmental body to make decisions behind closed doors. It will also address thorny issues, including the First Amendment and disruptive public comments and the rise of virtual meetings and zoom bombs. These topics are nuanced and critical for government officials and employees who are navigating open meeting laws today.
Agenda
What Are Open Meetings Laws?
- Sunshine Laws
- Importance of Transparency
- Right of Public Access
Who Do Open Meetings Laws Apply to?
- Federal, State, and Local Government Bodies
- Special Districts
- Entities Created by the Government
What Is a Meeting and What’s Required?
- Quorum
- Location
- Agendas and Notice
- Parliamentary Procedures
- Recordings, Audio and Video Broadcasts, Zooms
- Minutes
Public Comment
- Public Forum and First Amendment Issues
- What Happens When Someone Is Disruptive During a Meeting?
- Zoom Bombs
- Can You Cut the Mic?
Exceptions to Meeting Rules
- Briefings by the Executive
- Closed Session - Narrow Exception
- Conferences, Community Meetings, Social Gatherings
Sticky Situations
- Serial Meetings
- Social Media
- Violations
- Enforcement
Speakers
HongDao Nguyen,
Best Best & Krieger LLP- Partner at the law firm of Best Best & Krieger, LLP
- Practice focuses on open government and transparency laws, including First Amendment, open meetings laws, public records, conflicts of interest, and government ethics
- City Attorney or Assistant City Attorney to several California cities
- Accolades include being named an Asian Leader Worth Watching, Profiles in Diversity Journal, 2021
- Graduate of Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, where she was on the International & Comparative Law Review and a member of the Byrne Trial Advocacy Team
- Former newspaper reporter at the San Jose Mercury News
