Mayors and City Councilmembers Are Lining Up in Support of Prop. 54

September 21, 2016 –  Mayors and City Councilmembers across California including San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, Mayor of Menifee Scott Mann, City of Chico Council Member Randall Stone, City of Lake Elsinore Council Member Steve Manos, and City of Crescent City Council Member Kathryn Murray have joined the coalition in support of Prop. 54, a statewide initiative on the November 2016 ballot that will rein in the power of special interests and give voters a stronger voice in the State Legislature.

“Over the past decade, San Jose’s pioneering transparency laws have helped ensure that the public has the opportunity to meaningfully engage in important decisions facing our community,” said San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo. “Proposition 54 will apply these same open government principles to our state’s legislative process and help promote a stronger and more informed democracy.”

Under the Brown Act, counties and city governments are required to post their agendas 72-hours before a meeting. Also, 69 California cities representing 15 million people, and 37 county boards of supervisors representing 27 million people already post recordings of their meetings online.  It’s time for the State Legislature to catch up.

“It’s just common sense that the public and legislators should have at least 72 hours to review proposed legislation before it’s voted upon and signed into law.  Far too often, laws are secretly passed at the last minute in Sacramento that have far reaching impacts on our communities with no opportunity for the public to weigh in.  Prop. 54 will hold our state legislators to the same level of accountability and transparency that voters expect from their city and county elected officials and I strongly encourage voters to approve it this November,” said Scott Mann, Mayor of Menifee.

Prop. 54 will require that all legislation be in print and publicly posted online in its final form at least 72 hours before it may pass out of either house of the State Legislature, require all open legislative meetings to be audiovisual recorded and posted online within 24 hours, and grant all individuals the right to record and share videos of public legislative proceedings.

This latest group of Prop. 54 supporters joins a broad and diverse coalition that includes the League of Women Voters of California, the California State Conference of the NAACP, League of California Cities, California Common Cause, California Forward, the California Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business/CA, the Small Business Action Committee, the Latin Business Association, the California Business Roundtable, California Planning and Conservation League, Californians Aware, the First Amendment Coalition, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, CalTax, and many others.

To learn more about Prop. 54 or to join the coalition, visit the website at www.yesprop54.org.

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