8:30 - 10:00 a.m.
Recent Legislative Updates to the Brown Act, the Public Records Act, and More
Jessilyn Ho and Brendan Adams, Hanson Bridgett, LLP
This session will discuss recent legislative updates that impact special districts and will be important for board secretaries and clerks to know. It will include updates to the Brown Act, the Public Records Act, the Political Reform Act, and more. The presenters will offer practical recommendations to comply and get your district ready for 2024.
8:30 - 10:00 a.m.
Using Marketing Techniques to Attract and Retain Employees
Melissa Asher, CPS HR Consulting
You may not associate marketing with Human Resources, but this competency has emerged as an important skillset to attract and retain employees, especially in the public sector. The public sector is not known for selling itself, but in the current labor market successfully telling the story about what your organization does and how you positively impact communities will make a difference in the talent you attract and the satisfaction of your current workforce.
- Discuss what marketing in human resources means (you don’t need a marketing degree)
- Explain how to apply these practices for a better recruiting result
- Apply marketing techniques to internal employee communications to improve the employee experience
10:00 - 10:30 a.m.
Break, Networking with the Exhibitors
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Elections Update: The Status of the California Voting Rights Act
Doug Johnson, National Demographics Corporation (NDC); Derek Cole, Cole Huber LLP
Special Districts and other jurisdictions continue to receive California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) litigation threats. In Sacramento there are rumblings of efforts to apply the procedurally burdensome and expensive requirements of the FAIR MAPS Act to special district districting and redistricting.
NDC President Douglas Johnson and Cole Huber LLP Founding Partner Derek Cole will provide an update on Santa Monica’s litigation fighting its CVRA lawsuit. They will also discuss how to tell if your District faces legal risk and how to manage that transition, and what challenges face by-division special districts if the FAIR MAPS Act is expanded.
Attendees will hear:
- The latest status of the CVRA and how to analyze if your jurisdiction is at risk
- Learn how the Santa Monica case might (but probably won’t) allow more jurisdictions to stay at-large
- Learn the dangers for special districts if the requirements of the FAIR MAPS Act are expanded
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Write for Effortless Reading, Even in Government
Erin Lebacqz, CPS HR Consulting
Good writing that leads to effortless reading, even for government communications, can be a reality! Join us for this engaging session on how to make your messages read, understood, and best of all, used. Following the federal and state mandates for writing in plain language, you can craft communications that are clear, concise, and easy to read. With a few tips around wording, structure, and design, your intended audience will walk away with the right message the first time. Avoid the cost of poor communication by applying these techniques which will save you time and frustration.
Learning objective:
- Understand what the plain language mandate is
- Learn how to write concisely at the word, sentence, and paragraph level
- Learn how to eliminate governmentese and get your message across clearly
12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
Networking Luncheon
1:15 - 2:30 p.m.
The Brown Act in a Modern World
Nicholas Ghirelli, Richards Watson Gershon
This presentation will review the following:
- The Brown Act's new virtual meeting rules, including AB 361, AB 2449, and the Brown Act's traditional teleconferencing options.
- AB 992's rules for commenting on social media about agency business.
- Avoiding constitutional issues when monitoring your social media pages.
1:15 - 2:30 p.m.
Challenging Situations for Board Secretaries and Clerks
Margaret Long, Prentice Long PC
What do you do when one of your board members is sexually harassing staff? How can you get your board members to attend legally required trainings? What happens when your board members personally attack each other and engage in bullying behavior? In this session you’ll learn what your responsibilities are for ensuring that the elected officials in your agency follow the laws. You’ll also learn about practical tools and resources for successfully dealing with elected officials who refuse to comply. And finally, you’ll learn about what can legally be done if your attempts to resolve these issues have failed.
2:30 - 2:45 p.m.
Break, Networking with the Exhibitors
2:45 - 4:00 p.m.
Your Board Member Resigned . . . Now What?
Nicholas Ghirelli, Richards Watson Gershon
Every so often Board Secretaries/Clerks are faced with a Board vacancy. It is important to know and understand there are legal requirements and steps to take when this occurs.
- A vacancy occurs, Now what?
- How to fill the vacancy within the required timeframe
- Vacancy Notice is posted
- Appointment is made
Now that you have a new Board Member, now what?
2:45 - 4:00 p.m.
Practicing Emotional Intelligence
Sylvette Wake, CPS HR Consulting
There is strong evidence that emotional intelligence is one of the strongest predictors of performance. Some research states that it is responsible for 58% of your job performance and 90% of top performers have a high EQ. So, getting more EQ is a good thing. Join us for this session to unpack the four quadrants of emotional intelligence and what you can do to boost your EQ.
4:00 p.m.
Conference Concludes