City Council MeetingTechnology Disruption Policy
City CouncilMay 19, 2026
BACKGROUND
2 SB 707 amended the Ralph M. Brown Act
Some requirements became effective January 1, 2026
Others will take effect July 1, 2026
The City Council is required to establish a policy addressing technology disruptions during City Council meetings prior to July 1, 2026 These provisions sunset January 1, 2030
PROPOSED POLICY
3 The policy applies to most City Council meetings, except emergency situations and other narrow exceptions allowed under the Brown Act In the event a service disruption occurs:
The Mayor or City Clerk must immediately announce the disruption The Mayor shall call a recess
Staff will make a good faith effort to diagnose and restore the service The recess can be ended after service is restored or after 1 hour
PROPOSED POLICY (continued)
4 If the disruption is not resolved after 1 hour:
The meeting can be adjourned
Council can vote to continue the meeting, but the motion must be a roll call vote and include certain findings:
There was a good faith effort to restore service
The public interest in continuing the meeting outweighs the public interest in remote public access Items can be continued to another meeting as part of the motion or a subsequent motion The meeting minutes must include the nature of the disruption, the efforts taken to restore service, the time the meeting was reconvened and the finding adopted to reconvene without service being restored
PROPOSED POLICY (continued)
5 Agendas must include that the Policy will be provided by the City Clerk or available online, including a link to the Policy If the Legislature does not extend the provisions, the Policy will also sunset on January 1, 2030
6 Questions?