CITY OF ALAMEDA RESOLUTION NO. _____
ESTABLISHING A CITY COUNCIL MEETING TECHNOLOGY DISRUPTION POLICY WHEREAS, California Government Code § 54953.4 requires cities to adopt a formal written policy establishing procedures to address disruptions in telephonic or internet services that prevent members of the public from participating remotely; and WHEREAS, the statute mandates the adoption of such a policy no later than July 1, 2026; and WHEREAS, the policy will ensure the City remains in compliance with the Ralph M. Brown Act while continuing to provide reliable and transparent public meeting access.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City adopts the City Council Meeting Technology Disruption Policy, attached as Exhibit A; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Policy shall become effective July 1, 2026, and will expire January 1, 2030, unless the State Legislature extends the Brown Act provisions.
Exhibit A
City Council Meeting
Technology Disruption Policy
Background
Senate Bill 707 (Chapter 327, Statutes of 2025) amended the Ralph M. Brown Act (Brown Act) to require eligible legislative bodies to adopt, on or before July 1, 2026, a policy addressing how the agency will respond to disruptions in telephonic or internet service that prevent members of the public from participating remotely.
Purpose
This policy establishes procedures for responding to disruptions in telephonic or internet services that provide two-way remote public access to City Council meetings, as required by the Brown Act (Government Code Section 54953.4). The policy ensures transparency, public participation, and the continuation of meetings during technological disruptions.
Definitions
“Disruption” means any failure, outage, or other interruption to that prevents members of the public from attending or participating in the meeting via the remote access services. “Remote access services” means the two-way telephonic service and/or two-way audiovisual platform used to provide real-time remote public attendance and observation of meetings.
Applicability
This policy applies to all open and public meetings of the City Council at which remote public participation is offered or required under the Brown Act. Consistent with the Brown Act. This policy shall not apply to meetings exempt under the Brown Act, including an emergency situation pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.5.
Response to Service Disruption
If the Mayor of City Clerk becomes aware of a service disruption to the agency’s remote access services that prevents members of the public from attending or observing the meeting remotely:
The Mayor or City Clerk shall immediately announce the service disruption to the public.
The Mayor shall call for a recess.
The meeting shall remain in recess for at least one hour or until service is restored, whichever occurs first.
During the recess, staff shall make a good faith effort to diagnose and restore the disrupted service.
Reconvening the Open Session
Once service is restored the Mayor can reconvene the meeting, which shall continue as normal.
If service has not been restored after the expiration of the hour, the Mayor or City Clerk shall report on the status of staff’s efforts to restore remote access services, and the City Council may reconvene to:
Adjourn the meeting; or
Continue the meeting by adopting a motion, by roll call vote, making the following or a substantially similar finding:
The City has made good faith efforts to restore remote access in accordance with its adopted policy, and the public interest in continuing the meeting outweighs the public interest in remote public access. When making the finding, the City Council may further determine that the public interest would be served by continuing one or more specific agenda items or other matters to a future meeting and shall continue such agenda items or other matters by the same or subsequent motion.
Upon adoption of the finding, the City Council may continue the meeting in open session despite the fact that remote access services have not been restored.
Recordkeeping
The City Clerk shall enter a brief statement into the meeting minutes, including:
The nature and time of the service disruption.
The restoration efforts undertaken.
The time the meeting was reconvened.
The finding adopted to reconvene without service being restored.
Notice of Policy
Every agenda for a meeting subject to this Policy shall include a brief statement that a copy of this Policy may be provided upon request to the City Clerk or accessed online and including an internet link to the Policy.
Amendments and Expiration
This policy may be amended by the City Council at a noticed public meeting as a Regular Agenda item. This policy will automatically expire on January 1, 2030, unless the Brown Act provisions are extended by the Legislature.
* * * * *
I, the undersigned, hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution was duly and regularly adopted and passed by the Council of the City of Alameda in regular meeting assembled on the 19th day of May 2026, by the following vote to wit:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTENTIONS:
IN WITNESS, WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal of said City this 20th day of May 2026. ___________________
Lara Weisiger, City Clerk
City of Alameda
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
______________________
Yibin Shen, City Attorney
City of Alameda