SACRAMENTO — The California Legislature has approved AB 474, legislation by Assemblymember Mark Stone (D-Monterey Bay) that would improve the transparency of meetings with California Coastal Commissioners. The measure passed with strong bipartisan support, and if signed by the Governor, would go into effect on January 1, 2015.
“This bill is a simple fix to make sure that the public can access information that would provide an accurate explanation for communication between Commission members and others,” said Stone.
AB 474 provides a modest update to the requirement that Commissioners report all of the individuals in attendance at ex parte communications, which would become part of the public record. Ex parte communications include any oral or written communication between a Commissioner and interested persons about matters within the jurisdiction of the Commission that do not take place in a public or official meeting. Public record of ex parte communications with Commission members is important because the Commission is tasked with operating in an open, transparent, and impartial manner.
Under current law, Commissioners must disclose the identity of the person who initiated the communication and the person who received the communication. However, current law does not require disclosure of the identity of everyone who participates in ex parte communications with Coastal Commission members, even though other individuals who do not initiate the communication may also attend ex parte communication meetings. Therefore, the presence of these non-initiating participants at these meetings does not become part of the official record. Under AB 474, all individuals present at an ex parte communication would be disclosed, and that information would become part of the official record.
Before his election to the Assembly in 2012, Stone served as a member of the California Coastal Commission.
Assembly member Stone’s website: www.asmdc.org/stone