Item 3
VALLEY CLEAN ENERGY ALLIANCE
Staff Report - Item 3
____________________________________________________________________________________ TO: Board of Directors
FROM: Mitch Sears, Interim General Manager
Alisa Lembke, Board Clerk/Administrative Analyst
SUBJECT: Renew Authorization to continue Remote Public Meetings as authorized by Assembly Bill 361
DATE: April 14, 2022
Recommendation
VCE Board renew authorization for remote (video/teleconference) meetings, including any standing or future committee(s) meetings and Community Advisory Committee meetings, by finding:
1. Pursuant to Assembly Bill 361 (AB 361), that, (a) the COVID-19 pandemic state of emergency is ongoing, and (b) local officials continue to recommend measures to promote social distancing.
Background/Summary of AB 361
Pursuant to Government Code Section 54953(b)(3) legislative bodies may meet by “teleconference” only if the agenda lists each location a member remotely accesses a meeting from, the agenda is posted at all remote locations, and the public may access any of the remote locations. Additionally, a quorum of the legislative body must be within the legislative body’s jurisdiction.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Governor issued Executive Order N-29-20, suspending certain sections of the Brown Act. Pursuant to the Executive Order, legislative bodies no longer needed to list the location of each remote attendee, post agendas at each remote locations, or allow the public to access each location. Further, a quorum of the legislative body does not need to be within the legislative body’s jurisdiction. After several extensions, Executive Order N-29-20 expired on September 30, 2021.
On September 16, 2021, the Governor signed AB 361, which kept some of the provisions of Executive Order N-29-20. Pursuant to Government Code Section 54953(e), legislative bodies may meet remotely and do not need to list the location of each remote attendee, post agendas at each remote locations, or allow the public to access each location.
However, legislative bodies must first find: (1) the legislative body is meeting during a state of emergency and determine by majority vote that meeting in person would present an imminent risk to the health or safety of attendees; or (2) state or local health officials impose or recommend social distancing measures.
Government Code Section 54953(e)(1). The legislative body must make the required findings every 30 days, until the end of the state of emergency or recommended or required social distancing. Government Code Section 54953(e)(3). On January 1, 2024, Government Code Section 54953(e) is repealed.
The recommended action is required by AB 361 to continue meeting remotely during a declared state of emergency. It includes a finding that social distancing measures continue to be recommended, consistent with the most recent memorandum from the Yolo County Health Officer dated March 1, 2022 (attached). This finding (or a finding that meeting in person would present imminent health and safety risks) is required on a monthly basis. As the Yolo County Health Officer’s memorandum notes, COVID-19 rates continue to decline and her remote meeting recommendation may not be renewed in April. The VCE Board retains discretion under AB 361 to independently determine that remote meetings should continue because meeting in person would present imminent risks to the health and safety of attendees.
Staff continues to monitor the situation as part of our emergency operations efforts and will return to the Board every thirty (30) days or as needed with additional recommendations related to the conduct of public meetings.
Attachments:
1. Yolo County Health Officer memorandum dated 3/1/2022 to Board of Supervisors
COUNTY OF YOLO
Health and Human Services Agency Karen Larsen, LM F T
Directo r
Aimee Sisson, MD, MPH MAILING ADDRESS
137 N. Cottonwood Street Woodland, CA 95695
www.yolocounty.org Health Officer
D a v i s W e s t S a c r a m e n to W i n t e r s W o o d la n d 600 A Street
Davis, CA 95616
Mental Health (530) 757-5530
500 Jefferson Boulevard
West Sacramento, CA95605
Service Center (916) 375-6200
Mental Health (916) 375-6350
Public Health (916) 375-6380
111 East Grant Avenue
Winters, CA 95694
Service Center (530) 406-4444
25 & 137 N. Cottonwood Street
Woodland, CA 95695
Service Center (530) 661-2750
Mental Health (530) 666-8630
Public Health (530) 666-8645
Date: March 1, 2022
To: All Yolo County Boards and Commissions
From: Dr. Aimee Sisson, Health Officer
Subject: Remote Public Meetings
Since September 2021, I have issued monthly memoranda recommending remote meetings. The case rate in Yolo County has declined to 19 cases per 100,000 per day from a peak of 244 in January, but it continues to represent high community transmission. In the context of high community transmission, I recommend meetings continue to be held remotely whenever possible. I am re-issuing the earlier memorandum with updated COVID-19 case rate data.
In light of the ongoing public health emergency related to COVID-19 and the high level of community transmission of the virus that causes COVID-19, the Yolo County Public Health Officer recommends that public bodies continue to meet remotely to the extent possible. Board and Commissions can utilize the provisions of newly enacted AB 361 to maintain remote meetings under the Ralph M. Brown Act and similar laws.
Among other reasons, the grounds for the remote meeting recommendation include:
• The continued threat of COVID-19 to the community. As of March 1, 2022, the case rate is 19 cases per 100,000 residents per day. This case rate is considered “High” under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) framework for assessing community COVID-19 transmission; and
• The unique characteristics of public governmental meetings, including the increased mixing associated with bringing together people from across the community, the need to enable those who are immunocompromised or unvaccinated to be able to safely continue to fully participate in public governmental meetings, and the challenges of ensuring compliance with safety requirements and recommendations at such meetings.
Meetings that cannot feasibly be held virtually should be held outdoors when possible, or indoors only in small groups with face coverings, maximal physical distance between participants, use of a portable HEPA filter (unless comparable filtration is provided through facility HVAC systems), and shortened meeting times.
This recommendation is based upon current conditions. Given the ongoing decrease in case rates, with community transmission soon expected to drop below the threshold for high community transmission into substantial community transmission (<14 cases per 100,000 per day), this will likely be the final monthly memorandum recommending remote public meetings unless the COVID-19 situation unexpectedly worsens. Boards and Commissions should consider preparations for in-person or hybrid meetings beginning in April, except to the extent they may independently determine—as AB 361 allows—that meeting in person would present “imminent risks to the health or safety of attendees.”