Riverside City Council members have tightened a loophole in its sunshine ordinance that they say will make it harder to slip through a decision before the public can weigh in — as critics say a council member recently tried to do.

The sunshine ordinance, which the City Council passed in 2015, goes beyond state law by requiring potential decisions to be written on the agenda 12 days before a meeting.

But it included an exception for “urgent” items. If the mayor or a council member saw a need to take immediate action on something that came to the council’s attention after the agenda was posted, that official could waive the sunshine ordinance by getting another council member to sign off.

That’s what Councilwoman Gaby Plascencia did in January, when she asked the council to remove a planning commissioner because she had concerns about his ethics and the lack of diversity on city boards. She put that on the agenda the Friday before a Tuesday meeting — leading many to ask what was so urgent.

The new policy, which the council approved unanimously Tuesday, Feb. 11, will require a written explanation of why immediate action is needed and will require three council members to agree that it’s urgent.

Councilman Ronaldo Fierro, who suggested the change, said it would improve public trust.

“The reasoning behind this ordinance is to provide the public elected officials and city staff ample time to digest the material and to be able to ask questions about comprehensive and sometimes controversial materials,” Fierro said. “… We must never forget that transparency and public trust go hand in hand and that a representative government only works properly when public trust remains strong.”

Fierro didn’t directly reference Plascencia’s request, which she withdrew Jan. 21 after residents at the meeting blasted the attempt.

Councilman Chuck Conder, though, said Plascencia had ignored the intent of the sunshine ordinance.

“The abuse of this which recently happened shouldn’t happen again,” Conder said.

Plascencia, who voted for the change in the sunshine ordinance, was elected in November. She did not speak about the change during the meeting or return a phone call Friday.