BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
Government Code ? 84308 Applies: Yes ? No ?
(If "YES" Complete Attachment A - Gov. Code ? 84308)
SUBJECT: Title
Review and Adopt "Reasonable Efforts" to Comply with Senate Bill 707 to Invite Groups that Do Not Traditionally Participate in Public Meetings to Attend Those Meetings.
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RECOMMENDATION: Recommendation
Adopt staff's recommended reasonable efforts to invite groups that do not traditionally participate in public meetings to attend Valley Water public meetings, to comply with California State Senate Bill 707.
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SUMMARY:
Beginning July 1, 2026, California State Senate Bill 707, Chapter 327, Statutes of 2025, requires "eligible legislative bodies", including Santa Clara Valley Water District (Valley Water), to make reasonable efforts, as determined by the legislative body, to invite groups that do not traditionally participate in public meetings to attend those meetings.
The law indicates that the "groups" referred to in the law include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(I) Media organizations that provide news coverage in the jurisdiction of the eligible legislative body, including media organizations that serve non-English-speaking communities.
(II) Good government, civil rights, civic engagement, neighborhood, and community group organizations, or similar organizations that are active in the jurisdiction of the eligible legislative body, including organizations active in non-English-speaking communities.
The statute also clarifies that legislative bodies shall have broad discretion in the choice of reasonable efforts they make and that no legal action shall be commenced or maintained against an eligible legislative body arising from failing to provide public meeting information to any specific group.
Currently, notices of Board meetings and Board Committee meetings are posted physically outside the building and on our website, available to the public and easily translatable into a user's prefer...
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