Marina Councilman aims to bring the Brown Act into the 21st century.

Marina Councilman Ken Gray wants his city to become a local leader in open government technology. Instead of driving to City Hall to see a posted Planning Commission agenda or fetching a staff report from the city clerk, Gray says these items should be posted on the city’s website 72 hours in advance of meetings.

“That’s more accessible than putting them on a bulletin board,” Gray says. “Everyone can see them when they are on a website.”

On April 15 Gray pitched his policy to the City Council. He also handed out a scorecard that ranked local public agencies’ web accessibility. Gray gave Monterey and Marina (no bias there) a perfect score, largely because their city meetings are rebroadcast and available in video on demand. Fire and water districts such as Pajaro/Sunny Mesa Community Services District scored zero for not even having a URL.

Gray wants Marina to stay at the top of the charts. “We can demonstrate leadership by adopting a policy and hopefully encouraging other jurisdictions to do the same,” Gray told the council.

But Councilman Dave McCall said the policy may be a little premature. A consultant currently updates the city’s website, which results in spotty postings. Gray says the city is considering whether to buy software that would allow city staff to manage the site. So Gray’s policy will have to wait until the city becomes web-savvy enough to implement it.

Marina is not the only government agency on course to transcend the Brown Act, which was enacted in 1953 – long before Google became a common verb. Terry Francke, general counsel for Californians Aware, a nonprofit open-government advocacy group, says most agencies have a website even though the Brown Act doesn’t require it. “It’s a very small step to do that and actually is a lot cheaper than having to print hefty agendas,” Francke says.

San Francisco and Contra Costa counties have taken public access a step further by enacting so-called sunshine ordinances to cut down on closed meetings and open up city books. Palo Alto even posts councilmembers’ e-mails correspondence on its website.

Locally, Monterey earns kudos for having agendas and minutes posted for all of its boards and commissions. And Carmel’s new online digs get credit for its live web casts. But jurisdictions with stellar sites generally have expendable budgets to go along with them and it’s easy for governments to fall behind.

For example, Salinas’ most recent library commission agenda is from 2004. And Monterey County Board of Supervisors’ minutes haven’t been updated since November.

Attorney Michael Stamp says posting documents online can save staff time from responding to public records requests. “The more they put up there the less we have to go through the formal process of getting information,” he says.

Plus, Stamp adds, posting large documents, like environmental impact reports, can save citizens the $75 or $150 it would cost to get a hard copy. “Public agencies are really missing the boat if they don’t improve access,” he says.

Gray’s policy attempts to do just that. If approved, commission agendas would be available online, and meeting minutes would be posted 72 hours after approval. Gray says he wants the website to be a source citizens can rely on. “[The website] is hit and miss,” Gray says. “It’s something that is nice to do but there is no real requirement that it be done.”