Meeting Procedures

Purpose

These rules are adopted to provide for the orderly and effective conduct of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy Board (Board) meetings.

Open Meetings

All meetings of the Board shall be conducted in accordance with the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Government Code sec. 11120 et seq.). Board meetings shall be open to the public, except for such closed sessions as authorized by that act (i.e., personnel decisions, pending litigation). Meetings will be recorded electronically, subject to available funding and the proper functioning of equipment.

Meetings

Unless otherwise specified, the Board shall meet on the fourth Wednesday of the month, starting at 9:00 a.m. Meetings are scheduled for January, March, May, July, and October, but may vary depending upon the needs of the Conservancy.  Meetings are posted on the homepage and can be received via email list. All regular Board meetings are held in the legal Delta or the City of Rio Vista (Public Resources Code sec. 32350). Meeting locations may vary.

Under certain limited circumstances that necessitate immediate action, as specified in the Bagley-Keene Act, the Board may convene a special or an emergency meeting in accordance with that Act.

Quorum and Voting

In conducting the Conservancy’s business, a quorum of six (6) voting Board members must be present. A decision of the Board requires an affirmative vote of 6 of the 11 voting members, and the vote is binding with respect to all matters acted on by the Board. The vote of each member shall be individually recorded. The Board shall not transact the business of the Conservancy if a quorum is not present at the time a vote is taken; however, when a quorum is not present, the Board may meet as a committee of the Board and submit their recommendation to the Board when a quorum is present.

Election and Duties of the Chair and Vice-Chair

Annually, the voting members of the Board shall elect from among the voting members a Chair and Vice Chair. The Chair shall be selected  from among the Board members representing County Board of Supervisors. If the office of the Chair or Vice Chair becomes vacant, a new Chair or Vice Chair shall be elected by the voting members of the Board to serve for the remainder of the term.

Attendance and Duties of Executive Officer, Chief Counsel, and Board Liaison

The Executive Officer, or an appropriate designee, shall attend all Board meetings, and shall be prepared to advise the Board on all matters coming before it and for carrying out all actions taken by the Board. The Chief Counsel, or an appropriate designee, shall attend all meetings of the Board, and shall act as parliamentarian and be prepared to advise the Board on questions of law. The Board Liaison, or an appropriate designee, shall attend all Board meetings, and shall maintain a full and complete record of all meetings and the vote of each member as required by law and these rules.

Program and Policy Subcommittee

The governing Board of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy has one subcommittee, the Program and Policy Subcommittee, that serves as an informal body to provide a public forum for discussion of topics and issues in order to develop recommendations for consideration by the Delta Conservancy staff and Board.  Click here to learn more about the Program and Policy Subcommittee (web link).

Required Notice and Agenda

The Board Liaison shall ensure that notices of regular meetings, along with agendas that sufficiently describe the items of business to be transacted or discussed, are posted on the internet, as appropriate, at least 10 days in advance of the meeting. The Executive Officer shall prepare agendas for the Board, working closely with the Chair and other members, and with the Chief Counsel, regarding closed session items.

  • The Board will consider items as ordered on the noticed agenda. Every effort will be made to adhere to that order, however, occasionally, it may be necessary for the Chair to rearrange the sequence in which an agenda item is raised.
  • Board staff will announce at the beginning of the meeting any agenda items that are being pulled since noticing the agenda.
  • Action items of a routine nature may be bundled together as a single consent calendar item; provided that any member may remove any item from the consent calendar, to be discussed and voted upon separately at an appropriate place in the agenda determined by the Chair, and the Board shall then approve the remainder of the consent calendar items. Items not on a consent calendar may nevertheless, as appropriate, be “bundled” and considered together.
  • At the discretion of the Board, all items appearing on the agenda, whether or not expressly listed for action, may be deliberated upon and may be subject to action by the Board. Items may not be added to a posted agenda, except in limited circumstances necessitating immediate action, as specified in the Bagley-Keene Act.
  • For issues that may arise where the law or existing procedures do not clearly address a specific procedure at a meeting, the Chair may refer to Robert’s Rules of Order for guidance.

Public Input

Comments. The Board supports the rights of all interested persons to be able to comment on matters coming before it. To assist persons in making presentations, the following are recommended when appearing and speaking before the Board. Please remember that the Board may have several matters to consider at each of its meetings and plan on using your comments to clarify or to add to the Board’s understanding of the item. The amount of time allocated for public comment by individual speakers may be limited at the discretion of the Chair.

  • Complete a speaker request form and submit to Board staff prior to or during the meeting;
  • Indicate on the form, whether the comments will be in reference to a specific agenda item or a general topic;
  • If the comments are on a specific agenda item, the Chair will call for those comments following the staff presentation, Board members’ discussion and questions, and before the members vote;
  • If the comments are of a general nature, the Chair will call for those comments during the Public Comment period;
  • If presenting written comments, please summarize what is in the written comments rather than reading a lengthy document;
  • Be prepared to give an abbreviated presentation as the Chair, depending on the number of people wishing to speak, will determine the amount of time to allocate for public comment on each agenda item and for individual speakers; and
  • Be prepared for Board members or staff to interrupt your statement with questions or comments.

Visual Presentations and Materials. Board members review all written materials that are submitted prior to the meeting in a timely manner. All materials exhibited to the Board during the meeting (slides, maps, etc.) are part of the public record and must be kept. If you plan to use visual aids such as PowerPoint:

  • Contact the Board staff prior to the meeting to ensure equipment will be available and ready for use;
  • Provide staff, prior to the meeting, with the file in an appropriate format; and
  • When presenting visual material, please summarize the information rather than reading from your visual display.

Submission of Written Comments

Consider putting comments in writing. The Board members receive and read all the written information that has been submitted by the meeting deadline, which is five (5) working days in advance of a Board meeting. Please Note: You are discouraged from submitting written materials to the Board on the day of the meeting, unless they are visual aids.

Written comments are to be submitted via email to contact@deltaconservancy.ca.gov (email link) or to the Delta Conservancy Board at 1450 Halyard Drive, Suite 6, West Sacramento, CA 95691. As noted previously, the comments should be submitted to Board staff no later than 5 working days before the meeting. The comments should be submitted with the following information included (for tracking) at the top of the first page of the document:

  • Date
  • Addressee
  • Council Meeting Date
  • Person Submitting the Document and Organization (if applicable)

If you have not submitted written comments 5 days in advance, prior to the meeting, please provide 35 copies to Board staff for distribution to the Board, agency Liaison Advisors, and Conservancy staff. Please remember that all written comments will be posted on the Conservancy’s website. Copyrighted material used to support your written comments will not be posted on the website without permission of the copyright holder; it is your responsibility to get that permission or supply the URL to a publicly-accessible version of the material.

Security Screening Information

Some venues for Board meetings may have security screening. Security screening requirements, if any, will be noticed on the Board agenda. Please allow extra time for security screening procedures. Often, current photo identification is required. Visitors may be able to bring cameras and cell phones with photographic or recording capabilities into some venues; however, their use may be restricted.