AB 1234 Local agencies: compensation and ethics.
(On 10.7.05, AB 1234 was signed by the Governor.)
Existing law provides for the establishment and operations of cities, counties, cities and counties, districts, and other local government agencies, the composition of their governing bodies, and the payment of governing body members for attending meetings and performing other duties, and prescribes conflicts of interest.
This bill would require a local agency that provides reimbursement for expenses to members of its legislative body to adopt a written policy on the duties for which legislative body members may receive compensation, other than meetings of the legislative body or an advisory body or attendance at a conference or organized educational activity. The bill would require such a governing body to adopt a written policy concerning what occurrences qualify a member to receive reimbursement of expenses for travel, meals, and lodging and would impose related requirements, including the filing of expense reports, which would be public records.
This bill would also require that if a local agency provides any type of compensation, salary, or stipend to, or reimburses the expenses of, a member of the legislative body, all local agency officials, except a member whose term of office ends before January 1, 2007, in local agency service as of January 1, 2006, or thereafter receive training in ethics, as specified. This bill would provide that if any entity develops criteria for the ethics training, then the Fair Political Practices Commission and the Attorney General shall be consulted regarding any proposed course content. This bill would specify, with respect to certain special districts, how a director’s activities on a specific day are determined to be compensable and would make related changes.
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