Stop Yucca Mesa Annexation Coalition

COMPARISON BROWN ACT RULES
MUNICIPAL ADVISORY COUNCIL vs.
HOMESTEAD VALLEY COMMUNITY COUNCIL*
(Updated 07/14/10)

Item	Brown Act Body Municipal Advisory Council (MAC)	Private Corporate Club Homestead Valley Community Council (HVCC)
Source of Authority	California Government Code, Sections 54950-54962, 1988	HVCC By-Laws, Amended 02/10
Abides by Open Meeting Laws (Transparency/Brown Act)	Yes	No
Abides by Supervisor Neil Derry's Sunshine Ordinance to Promote Accountability and Transparency in Government (See Draft Ordinance HERE)	Yes	No
Legal Representative government to the County of San Bernardino Board of Supervisors, State of California, and Federal government	Yes	No
NEW!! - Organization is a special interest group	No. A MAC is a legal representative government.	Yes. HVCC is a private corporation made up from four private corporations.
UPDATED!! - Method of Appointments to Council	Appointed by San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors from entire Community	Each community organization selects four active, interested Delegates to the Council. (HVCC eliminated the requirement that Delegates had to be paid-up Members)
NEW!! - Pre-screening of Delegates	Appointed by San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors ONLY. Supervisors' decisions are FINAL	Community organizations Board or Executive Committee make all appointments
Appointed Council Members required to be "Approved" by sitting Council Members	No. Appointment by Supervisor is final	Yes. Appointments by Community Association Boards or Executive Committee must be voted upon and approved by sitting HVCC Council
Council Members and Committee Members must be residents of respective Community	Yes.	No. YMIA's President is a resident of Yucca Valley and is a member of HVCC's Advisory Committee.
NEW!! - Terms of Office	Council Members serve a maximum of two four-year terms.	Delegates serve an indefinite number of years. Officers of the Council will be elected for a term of one (1) year with re-election possible for an indefinite number of times.
Post notice and an agenda for meetings, typically at least 72 hours prior to the meeting	Yes, Public Posting and via Website	Yes, but not obligated to do, HVCC Website Only
Post only Council approved minutes of meetings on website	Yes	No. HVCC Posts Unapproved Draft minutes of meetings on website. Example HERE.
Notify the media of special meetings	Yes, and also Public Posting	No
Hold meetings in the jurisdiction of the agency	Yes	Yes, Monthly Meeting of Delegates Only. Meetings are rotated among four communities.
NEW!! - Hold meetings convenient for public	Yes - Monthly meetings are held at one location, usually in evenings	No. Monthly meetings are rotated between four locations at 3:00 pm
Not require a "sign in" for anyone	Yes	Yes
Allow non-disruptive recordings and broadcast of meetings	Yes	No
Allow the public to address them	Yes	Yes
Conduct only public votes with no secret ballots	Yes	No
Conducts e-mail voting?	No	Yes
Members use individual contacts such as individual phone calls ("daisy chain") or a third person ("spoke and wheel") to evade the public and collectively decide an issue	No	Yes
Treat all distributed documents as public	Yes	No
Majority of the members can not get together or even communicate together	Yes	No
Public Information Requests fulfilled?	Yes	No
Direct Access to San Bernardino County Supervisor Neil Derry?	Yes	No
Hold Public Hearings?	Yes	No
Council Members appointed by County Board of Supervisors	Yes. Appointed from entire community population pool. No dues required.	No. Appointed by Community Association Boards/Executive Committee from Association Members Only
All Volunteer Council and/or Delegates	Yes	Yes
Passes County Laws and Legislates	No	No
No action or discussion undertaken on any item not appearing on the properly posted agenda	Yes	No. New items may be added to an un-posted agenda, discussed, with action taken at any time.
Holds secret, special, and/or private meetings without prior approval of Council, and/or agenda, or minutes	No	Yes
Accountability to the body at large, not unilateral action/decision making	Yes	No
Required to pay dues to organization?	No	Each Association must pay $100/year assessment
San Bernardino County Hearings?	Hearings can be held at the local MAC.	HVCC can not hold Public Hearings. Residents must go to San Bernardino for Hearings.
Protection from "back room" deals	Yes	No
Officially recognized voice with public officials and agencies	Yes	No
Council may participate in matters pertaining to interests of local business establishments with majority Council approval.	No	Yes

Note: The Improvement Associations and Community Associations are social clubs and have no authority, funding, or expertise to launch a campaign such as the grass roots organization of the Stop Yucca Mesa Annexation Coalition.
*Comparison information requested by Yucca Mesa resident.

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