Hello I’m Miriam Keller, president of the League of Women Voters of Fremont, Newark and Union City. Recognizing Sunshine week we, the League, would like to thank you, the Fremont City Council for supporting Open Government.

Sunshine Week is a time for governmental and non-governmental organizations to focus on the importance openness in government plays in ensuring a strong democracy and the liberty we all cherish. James Madison once said: "The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty." 

Complimentary comment: 

We ask you to continue to advance and diffuse the knowledge we the citizens of Fremont need by continuing to adhere to California’s Brown Act, that governs meetings conducted by local legislative bodies. We applaud you for your commitment to facilitate public participation in our local government. We specifically acknowledge your training session on open government that you advise all council members and appointed boards and commission members to attend.
 

• We ask you to continue to support California’s Brown Act by continuing to do the following: 
• Ensuring dates and times of all meetings are noticed the required 71 hours before a regular meeting
• Ensuring all agendas include a brief description of all agenda,
• Allow public comment on each agenda item, and 
• Publish minutes of meetings in a timely manner. 

Again, we thank the Council and the city manager’s office for your continued support for open government.

On behalf of the League may I present to you a poster celebrating Sunshine Week.

Hello I’m John Smith, a member of the League of Women Voters of Fremont, Newark and Union City. Recognizing Sunshine week we, the League, would like to thank you, the Union City Council for supporting Open Government.

Sunshine Week is a time for governmental and non-governmental organizations to focus on the importance openness in government plays in ensuring a strong democracy and the liberty we all cherish. James Madison once said: "The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty." 

Complimentary comment: 

We ask you to continue to advance and diffuse the knowledge we citizens of Union City need by continuing to adhere to California’s Brown Act that governs meetings conducted by local legislative bodies. We applaud you for your commitment to facilitate public participation in our local government. We specifically acknowledge your complete agendas on your web site along with supporting materials. We do wish you would reconsider your time limits on public comment on action items. Perhaps you could limit each speaker to 1 or 2 minutes if you have many who wish to participate instead of setting a total time limit for all speakers.

• We ask you to continue facilitating public participation in local government by doing the following:
• ensure dates and times of all meetings are noticed, 
• ensure agendas including a brief description of all agenda items be posted at least 72 hours prior to a regular meeting, 
• allow adequate time for public comment on each agenda item, and 

And though the act provides for closed-session meetings we encourage all legislative bodies to keep closed session meetings to a minimum adhering to the legislative intended bias in favor or open meetings. 

Again, we thank you the Union City Council for your continued support for open government.

On behalf of the League may I present you with this poster that celebrates Sunshine Week.