(June 3, 2003) -- City Attorney Robert Shannon is asking that the City Council formally to oppose any Sacramento effort end the current 72 hour public notice requirement (contained in the CA Brown Act) for meetings of government bodies and attendant reimbursement as a state mandate.

City Attorney Shannon is also asking that the Council authorize him to prepare an amendment to LB's Municipal Code that would require in any event 72 hour public notice for any regular meeting of a legislative body of the City of Long Beach.

The Sacramento proposal, first floated in Governor Gray Davis' May budget revision, was promptly blasted by (among others) L.A. County Supervisor chair Zev Yaroslavsky, L.A. County D.A. Steve Cooley, and (in an L.A. Times letter) attorney Barbara Blinderman, chair of the CA First Amendment Coalition's Legal Committee. Ms. Blinderman's letter reiterated the reasons why the legislature mandated minimal public requirements for government agendas in the first place, and chided Gov. Davis for killing other open government legislation.

On May 26, the CA Newspaper Publishers Association reported that Gov. Davis had issued two statements, which it described as ambiguous, that it said could allow room for the Governor to abandon his now-controversial proposal.

Mr. Shannon has agendized a briefing on the subject for the June 3 Council meeting.