Board to comply with rules in future

Board to comply with rules in future

Communications meetings to be made public in advance

By John Digrado

Daily Bruin Staff

In response to a review of its adherence to state open meeting
laws, Communications Board members resolved on Tuesday evening to
follow the rules much more closely in the future.

The board’s Operations Committee reviewed the issue after Daily
Bruin Editor in Chief Roxane Márquez last week questioned
whether the open meeting laws were being complied with.

"It is the recommendation of the Operations Committee and the
Daily Bruin editor in chief that agendas be published 72 hours in
advance, and that the time and place be published," said
Communications Board Chair Deanna Cherry. "We’ve chosen as a body
to comply voluntarily."

State laws mandate that any meeting of a public organization
must be publicized no less than 72 hours in advance. Meetings of an
advisory subcommittee to that organization where two-thirds of the
committee’s governing body is present must also be publicized in
the same fashion.

Márquez argued that since some meetings were not adequately
publicized, the meeting itself may have been in violation of the
law.

In a memo to the board dated Jan. 30, Cherry noted that the
Communications Board is committed to complying with the open
meetings act, and would voluntarily notify the public by postings
outside Student Media Director Arvli Ward’s office.

"There has always been a desire to keep the campus community
informed about what we are doing," Ward said. "There’s never been
an attempt to meet in secret."

The board also agreed to make all due efforts to run a public
notice in the Daily Bruin 72 hours in advance of the meeting.
However, some members had concerns regarding publication of agenda
items in the paper, citing possible coordination problems between
the organization and The Bruin.

"What would our situation be if the Daily Bruin would not be
able to carry this message," asked Alan Hansen, the administrative
representative to the board. "We shouldn’t tie ourselves to that
requirement. It wouldn’t be neat if someone wanted to hang us for
something out of our control."

Ward cited the Operations Committee meeting held on Jan. 23 as a
special circumstance under the board’s regular operating
procedures, saying that the group normally meets one week prior to
board meetings to discuss policy before it reaches the board table.
However, no items were listed on the committee’s agenda until late
that afternoon, Ward said, and therefore no prior publicity.

"We would have canceled that meeting," he said. "It was a new
quarter, and there were no new policy items up for review by
Operations."

Future Operations Committee meetings will be publicized in a
similar manner to Communications Board meetings, he said.Comments
to [email protected]