BILL NUMBER: AB 2492	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Jones-Sawyer

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2014

   An act to amend Section 54956.8 of the Government Code, relating
to local government.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2492, as introduced, Jones-Sawyer. Local agencies: meetings:
real property transactions.
   Existing law, the Ralph M. Brown Act, requires all meetings of the
legislative body of a local agency to be open and public, with
specified exceptions. Existing law authorizes a legislative body of a
local agency, after holding an open and public session as specified,
to hold a closed session with its negotiator prior to the purchase,
sale, exchange, or lease of real property by or for the local agency
to grant authority to its negotiator regarding the price and terms of
payment for the purchase, sale, exchange, or lease.
   This bill would instead authorize the legislative body to hold a
closed session to grant authority to the negotiator regarding the
price and terms of the purchase, sale, exchange, or lease.
   Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that
limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the
writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings
demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need
for protecting that interest.
   This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 54956.8 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   54956.8.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a
legislative body of a local agency may hold a closed session with its
negotiator prior to the purchase, sale, exchange, or lease of real
property by or for the local agency to grant authority to its
negotiator regarding the price and terms  of payment
 for the purchase, sale, exchange, or lease.
   However, prior to the closed session, the legislative body of the
local agency shall hold an open and public session in which it
identifies its negotiators, the real property or real properties
which the negotiations may concern, and the person or persons with
whom its negotiators may negotiate.
   For purposes of this section, negotiators may be members of the
legislative body of the local agency.
   For purposes of this section, "lease" includes renewal or
renegotiation of a lease.
   Nothing in this section shall preclude a local agency from holding
a closed session for discussions regarding eminent domain
proceedings pursuant to Section 54956.9.
  SEC. 2.  The Legislature finds and declares that Section 1 of this
act, which amends Section 54956.8 of the Government Code, imposes a
limitation on the public's right of access to the meetings of public
bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies within the
meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution.
Pursuant to that constitutional provision, the Legislature makes the
following findings to demonstrate the interest protected by this
limitation and the need for protecting that interest:
   Local agencies increasingly are entering into more sophisticated
and complex real estate transactions requiring the negotiation of
nonmonetary terms outside the scope of the "price and terms of
payment" that constitute valuable consideration. A local agency must
be authorized to consider all of the terms of a real estate
transaction in closed session in order to preserve its negotiating
position so as to strike the best bargain in the public interest.