Anaheim councilmembers to post monthly updates of who they meet with

Anaheim councilmembers and city managers will start publicly disclosing who they meet with for city business by releasing their monthly calendars to the city’s website.

The policy, approved by the City Council unanimously, will require top city officials’ calendars to be posted to the city’s website by the 10th day of each month, listing meetings that occurred in the previous month. The deputy and assistant city managers will be required to disclose their meetings as well.

“There’s nothing more transparent than telling everybody who we’re meeting with and who we’re talking to,” Councilmember Natalie Meeks said.

The new policy is the latest reform the council is making to promote transparency in City Hall.

City officials must list the date and time of the meeting; the names, titles and affiliations of the people they met with; and what the topic of the meeting was. Meetings with members of the public, lobbyists, developers and union representatives would be required to be disclosed.

Excluded from the policy are disclosing meetings that are with city employees only, criminal investigations and personal appointments.

The policy will go into effect in 2024. Mayor Ashleigh Aitken has been posting on the mayor’s webpage meetings requested with her. The latest post Wednesday included meetings until the end of July.

City officials’ calendars were public record already, but required people to file a records request with the city clerk.

Source: Orange County Register