Agenda - Council - 06/09/2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Open Meeting Law — A change was made to the Open Meeting Law to clarify that the use of social media by members of a public body does not violate the Open Meeting Law if the use is limited to exchanges open to the public. The new statute specifically excludes email but does not otherwise define the term social media. Deputy Registrar Residency — The statutory requirement that an individual appointed as deputy registrar for a statutory or home -rule charter city be a resident of the county in which the city is located was repealed. Local Campaign Finance — Changes were made to increase the campaign contribution limits for local elections. For candidates in a territory with a population of 100,000 or less, the contribution limits were raised to $600 in an election year and $250 in a non -election year. For candidates in a territory with a population over 100,000, the limits were raised to $1,000 in an election year and $250 in a non -election year. In addition, all campaign finance reports required to be filed with a local government must now be published on the local government's website, if the local government maintains a website. Data Practices — Several changes were made to address unauthorized access of private data by public employees, requiring local governments to: establish security measures to help ensure private data is only accessible to public employees whose work assignment reasonably requires access to the data, and that the data is only being accessed by those individuals for the purposes of their work assignment; follow the data breach reporting requirements that were previously only applicable to state agencies; and perform annual security assessments of personal information maintained by the entity. The statute also states that accessing private data without authorization is a misdemeanor, and willful violation by a public employee constitutes just cause for suspension without pay or dismissal. Part -Time Peace Officers — A change in the statutes now prohibits law enforcement agencies from hiring new part-time peace officers, existing part-time peace officers from transferring to new agencies, and the Peace Officer Standards and Training Board from licensing new part-time peace officers. Part-time peace officers that are currently employed may continue to serve indefmitely with their current employer, but must turn in their license upon leaving their current place of employment or otherwise becoming unemployed. Responsible Contractor Requirement — Contractors who bid on public contracts in excess of $50,000 are now required to certify that they are a "responsible bidder" in order to be awarded a contract as the lowest responsible bidder or best value alternative. A responsible contractor must be in compliance with various state and federal requirements for income tax, workers' compensation, unemployment insurance, minimum wage, and safety. City solicitations for bid must include: the defmition of "responsible contractor," which may include criteria in addition to the statutory requirements established by the city, or reference to the statutory definition; a statement that a contractor failing to meet the criteria or verify compliance is ineligible to be awarded or perform work on the contract; a statement that submitting a false verification renders the contractor ineligible and can result in termination of the contract; and a statement requiring the contractor to provide copies of verification forms for all subcontractors upon request. Cities are not obligated to verify any of the information in the contractor verification; and have no liability if reasonably relying on the certification when awarding the contract, or declining to award the contract based on a reasonable determination that a contractor failed to verify compliance. Disaster Assistance Contingency Fund — A new state account was created to provide emergency cash flow for local governments located in counties declared federal disaster areas. The fund may be used to meet non-federal fund matching requirements to speed the availability of federal funds. -17-