Marin mayors council agrees to follow state open-meeting laws

Three weeks after receiving a cease-and-desist letter alleging a Tiburon councilmember blocked a county resident from meetings that should have been public, the Marin County Council of Mayors and Councilmembers voted to follow California’s open-meeting laws.

The county council voted 9-0 at its Jan. 28 teleconference meeting to immediately adhere to the Ralph M. Brown Act for both its general meetings and those of its standing committees by requiring them to be open to the public. San Anselmo representatives were absent, and Corte Madera’s representative left early.

Tiburon Councilmember Alice Fredericks, who chairs the Legislative Committee at the center of the allegations, represented the town in the vote, and Belvedere Mayor Sally Wilkinson voted on the city’s behalf.

The council’s bylaws will be formally amended to acknowledge that the body follows all of the Brown Act’s provisions. That process will begin at its February meeting with formal adoption in March, according to a staff report prepared for the meeting. Both meetings will now occur in person following the council’s vote.

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