Darrell Steinberg. former presiding officer of the California Senate and recently elected as mayor of Sacramento, is making open government a first week priority with a handful of demanding amendments to the city’s new sunshine ordinance, reports Anita Chabria of the Sacramento Bee.
On the agenda for Thursday’s first city council meeting of the year is adoption of not only the relatively conventional openness proposals accumulated over the past two years under then mayor Kevin Johnson but consideration of the following Steinberg transparency rules, which would include
- an end to the use of closed “ad hoc” committee meetings for development of policy proposals;
- a requirement for sending emails concerning city business through the official city server, making them potentially available for public records requests;
- a requirement that council members submit any proposed amendments to ordinances in writing for public disclosure prior to the meeting at which they would be discussed, instead of simply offering them orally at that meeting;
- a requirement that the council announce any “behest”contributions made to favored nonprofits on their behalf more than 30 days before voting on an issue of interest to the contributor; and
- display on the city’s website of all comments by the public s made at open council, committee and commission meetings.
