Over the past academic year, Riverside Community College’s student government—which controls how student services fees are doled out and runs student life events and workshops—has not complied with a section of the state’s open meeting law, according to a months-long investigation by Viewpoints.

The Ralph M. Brown Act of 1953 has mandated state legislative bodies to do their public’s business out in the open. This includes student governments at Community Colleges.

 As part of the law, local governments like Associated Students of Riverside City College (ASRCC) are required to post agendas—a list of topics to be discussed and potentially voted on during a meeting—in a physical location and online 72 hours before a regular meeting and 24 hours before a special meeting. 

“There have been a couple instances where the agenda has not been posted on time or not posted at all,” ASRCC Senator Gibson Haines said at a Nov. 4 senate meeting.

ASRCC Executive Secretary Alexandria Soto is required by the ASRCC Constitution to post the agendas for all ASRCC meetings and ASRCC President Myisha Jackson is also responsible to ensure the entire Executive Cabinet follows the governing documents.

According to the ASRCC website’s repository of agendas and minutes, of all the weekly regular meetings required by their constitution for the 2025-2026 academic year, only 3% of the executive cabinet’s agendas and 14% of the senate’s have been posted online. The supreme court has no online agendas posted for the year.

“At this time, the members of my cabinet are in alignment with proper procedures and expectations regarding agenda posting requirements,” said Jackson in a May 26 statement to Viewpoints. Jackson requested evidence of the alleged violations in the same email.

After Viewpoints provided the information its investigation discovered, Jackson expressed appreciation, saying ASRCC and the college take the issue seriously.

“We are reviewing the information provided and will coordinate with the appropriate college and student leadership regarding the concerns raised about agenda and minutes postings,” Jackson wrote. 

ASRCC became better at posting their physical copies throughout the spring 2026 semester, but did not regularly upload online copies within the time period required by the Brown Act. 

“From my experience advising ASRCC, I do not believe any posting inconsistencies have been intentional, malicious, or intended to withhold information from students or the public,” said ASRCC Adviser Megan Bottoms in a statement. “Rather, when issues have occurred, they have generally stemmed from inconsistency in administrative follow-through, communication, and timeliness within a student-run environment.”

Why it matters

Most recently, the ASRCC Senate planned a May 19 meeting to discuss a $2 increase to the $30 Student Services Fee charged to students when they register for classes, unless they opt out.

That meeting’s agenda was posted at RCC outside the Bradshaw Center, but not made available online as mandated by the Brown Act.

The senate also voted on the $2 increase at its May 26 meeting. A copy of the agenda was posted outside the Bradshaw Center by the deadline, but it is still not online.

“The public has every right to know when we’re meeting, where we’re meeting, to have access to those meetings and to know what we’re talking about, because they may want to weigh in on something through public comment,” said Cheryl Aschenbach, former president of the California Community College’s Academic Senate, during a Feb. 2023 Brown Act training for student governments.

The ASRCC governing documents also require the minutes from executive cabinet meetings to be posted no later than 72 hours after a meeting concludes.

The senate and executive council have posted their minutes more often than their agendas, but still not up to the standard of posting all of them, let alone posting them on time. 

A lack of accountability

RCCD Student Trustee Gabriel Graves first brought up the Brown Act issue in a contentious email thread with Jackson in August 2025. 

Graves and Jackson had a disagreement over a plan Graves was submitting to get student government officials a stipend for the work they do. During the exchange, Graves requested the minutes Jackson took during ASRCC’s summer meetings, quoting the missed Brown Act deadlines for posting those agendas and minutes to the website. 

Eventually, RCC Dean of Student Services Thomas Cruz-Soto stepped in to tell Graves and Jackson to speak about the issue in person and asked ASRCC Adviser Megan Bottoms to help resolve the conflict between Graves and Jackson. 

Graves said he emailed Bottoms and Cruz-Soto several times to request a meeting with ASRCC officials about the Brown Act. Bottoms confirmed that the meeting never happened.

Graves said he also sent an email to ASRCC senators on Sept. 23, 2025 reminding them of Brown Act requirements.

“These rules protect transparency and ensure that all members—including the student trustee—can participate fully and effectively,” Graves wrote.

A month later, Graves attempted to impeach ASRCC President Myisha Jackson and Vice President Lateisha Williams, but the move failed.

“Compliance with agenda posting requirements and open meeting procedures is important. As the advisor, I recognize my responsibility in helping ensure student leaders understand and adhere to those expectations, and I will continue working with ASRCC to strengthen training, consistency, and procedural practices moving forward,” said Bottoms.

Possible legal responses

The grievance and impeachment process are two ways students, as members of the public, can address the situation, but they aren’t the only options available. 

There are a few legal avenues people can take to prevent future violations or reverse actions taken during meetings in violation of the Brown Act. This includes Community College students and those involved in holding the meetings, according to the First Amendment Coalition. 

“We’re not going to get hauled off anywhere,” Aschenbach said, “but [violating the Brown Act] could, at the very least, require that we back-track any actions that were taken.”

Any interested person can also send a “cease and desist” letter to the secretary of the offending board detailing what the alleged misconduct is and demanding that it can no longer continue, according to Cal State Long Beach’s legal resource center. 

If the government body responds with “a timely and unconditional commitment” to stop its violations, that becomes the end of the matter—unless it happens again. Then the complainants can sue, asking a judge to demand compliance.

An example of doing it right

The Associated Students of Norco College serves as one example of how a community college student government body has complied with the Brown Act and its governing body when it comes to posting agendas and minutes. 

“My responsibility is to be on top of the Brown Act, to be sending out the agenda and the minutes in a timely manner,” Vice President of Administration for ASNC Ethan Lumahan said.

ANSC also has a consistent and organized website listing accurate meeting times and links to current, upcoming and past agendas and minutes for meetings.  

Moreno Valley College’s agendas and minutes cannot be found at all on their website. 

ANSC is set up a little differently than ASRCC. For example, Lumahan had a team of three ASNC senators—Mahi Sharma, Ameera Chaudhry and Adishvar Kahlon—who assisted him with his administration responsibilities. 

“I do give credit to my senators as well,” Lumahan said. “When I do ask them to assist me with the agenda and minutes and then sending them out, they’ve been on top of that.”

Lumahan, however, said he has been late with his agendas before when they’ve gotten swamped or when they were hosting an event on the same day agendas were supposed to go out. 

“It doesn’t happen often,” Lumahan said “I want to say 99% of the time [it’s on time].”