Agenda
The public notice for a meeting. It lists the time, place, and items of business expected to be discussed or acted on. California law generally requires regular-meeting agendas to be posted at least 72 hours before the meeting. [3]
Civic Records Glossary
Plain-language guide to Board of Supervisors records
Civic Gallery mirrors official County of Santa Clara meeting records and source documents.
This glossary explains the terms residents will see while browsing agendas, matters, attachments, minutes, and generated summaries.
These definitions are written for Civic Gallery readers. They are based on County of Santa Clara public records, California open-meeting rules, and the legislative-management portal that powers the County's agenda site.
Always treat the official County record as authoritative.
Records you will see
Agenda portal languageAgenda Item
A specific piece of meeting business on an agenda. Each substantive item links to a legislative file and can carry a recommended action, supporting documents, and, after the meeting, the action the Board took. [2]
Matter
A legislative file that can appear on one or more meeting agendas. In Civic Gallery, a matter is the durable record behind an agenda item, such as a Board referral, ordinance, resolution, report, or contract approval.
Legislative File (LegiFile)
The County agenda portal's term for a matter: the numbered file that holds an item's title, recommended action, history, and attachments. Civic Gallery uses each legislative file as the stable record behind an agenda item, so the same file stays linked as it moves between meetings or committees. [2]
Attachment
A document connected to a matter. Attachments can include staff reports, transmittals, ordinances, resolutions, agreements, memos, letters, and exhibits. Civic Gallery downloads the public attachment files the County publishes for each item and links back to the original. [2]
Minutes
The official meeting record after a meeting occurs. Minutes document what business was handled and record how the Board of Supervisors voted on each item.
Body
The public entity holding the meeting. For the County that is chiefly the Board of Supervisors, along with its policy committees, boards, and commissions. Civic Gallery currently mirrors the Board of Supervisors. [1]
Official Source
The government-published record or document. Civic Gallery links back to the County's official agenda-portal and source-document URLs so readers can verify information before relying on it.
Actions & meeting terms
What the Board doesMotion
An action made, seconded, and adopted during a meeting. Motions are the everyday, least formal way the Board of Supervisors handles an agenda item and takes action in a single sitting.
Resolution
A more formal Board action adopted by number and kept as a permanent record, often used to set policy, accept funds, or take a position. Resolutions generally take effect on adoption.
Ordinance
A Board action that adopts county law, such as amendments to the County Ordinance Code. Ordinances generally require adoption at a Board meeting and, under California law for counties, usually take effect 30 days after final passage.
Roll-call Vote
A vote where each Supervisor's vote is recorded by name. Votes on ordinances, resolutions, and motions are taken by ayes and noes, with individual votes entered in the minutes.
Consent Calendar
A group of routine items the Board adopts together in a single vote, without separate discussion, unless a Supervisor or member of the public asks to pull an item for separate consideration. The County uses the consent calendar heavily for non-controversial business.
Board Referral
A request from a Supervisor directing the County Executive or a department to study an issue, report back, or take an action. Referrals are how individual Supervisors put new work on the County's agenda.
Off-Agenda Report
A written report the County Executive sends to the Board outside of a meeting agenda, often responding to a referral or providing a status update. It is part of the public record but is not an item the Board votes on.
Policy Committee
A standing committee of Supervisors that reviews matters in a subject area, such as Health and Hospital; Housing, Land Use, Environment and Transportation; Finance and Government Operations; or Children, Seniors and Families, before they reach the full Board.
Commission
An advisory body of appointed members that studies an area and makes recommendations to the Board of Supervisors, such as the Planning Commission or a subject-area advisory commission.
Public Comment
An opportunity for residents to address the Board. California open-meeting law guarantees the public a chance to comment on matters within the Board's jurisdiction. [4]
Closed Session
A non-public portion of a meeting for limited subjects such as personnel matters, real estate negotiations, or litigation. California open-meeting rules treat closed-session exceptions narrowly. [4]
Continued, Deferred, Or Dropped
A continued or deferred item is moved to a future meeting. A dropped item is no longer expected to be considered or acted on at that meeting.
Civic Gallery terms
How this site labels recordsExtracted Text
Text that Civic Gallery extracts from an official attachment. It helps search and preview documents, but it is not a replacement for the official PDF or source file.
Generated Summary
An AI-produced summary based on extracted text. It is assistive and may be incomplete or wrong, so the official attachment should be reviewed before relying on the summary.
Theme
A broad subject area, such as Housing or Public Health, that Civic Gallery assigns to a matter using AI. Themes are assistive labels to help browsing, not official classifications, and a matter can carry more than one.
Pulse
The homepage view of which themes the county's bodies appear to have focused on recently. "Heating up" highlights themes appearing on more agendas this quarter than last. It is derived from AI theme tags and is a guide for discovery, not an official measure.
Source Snapshot
A stored copy of an official source payload observed during ingestion. It helps Civic Gallery keep records traceable to the public source data that produced them.
Source Present
A Civic Gallery status meaning the record still appears in the latest source data. If a record disappears from the source, the app preserves the historical record while marking that source absence separately.
Sources
Provenance- County of Santa Clara Official county government site: Board of Supervisors, departments, committees, and services.
- Santa Clara County Legislative Portal Board and committee agendas, minutes, legislative files, agenda items, and public meeting documents.
- California Government Code Section 54954.2 Regular-meeting agenda posting requirements and public online access requirements.
- California Attorney General: Open Meetings Brown Act public-access principles, public comment, and narrow construction of closed-session exceptions.