-1-
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9 10
11 12
13 14
15 16
17 18
19 20
21 22
23 24
25 26
27 28
29 30
31 RESOLUTION NO. 2022_____
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA, TO CONTINUE THE ABILITY TO
HOLD TELECONFERENCE MEETINGS FOR CITY COUNCIL
AND ALL CITY COMMISSIONS, BOARDS AND COMMITTEES,
AS REQUIRED BY AB361 EVERY THIRTY DAYS, DURING THE
COVID-19 PROCLAIMED LOCAL EMERGENCY AND
CALIFORNIA STATE OF EMERGENCY.
WHEREAS, pursuant to the authority gr anted by Culve r City Municipal C ode (CCMC) Section 3.09.020, on March 14, 2020, the City Manager, as the Director of Emergency Services, iss ued a Proclamation of Loca l Emergency due to the Coronavirus (COVID -19) pandemic, which was ratified by the City Council on March 18, 2020 by Resolution No. 2020- R015. Such acti on follow ed the Los Angeles County D epartment of Public Health’s and t he Chair of the Board of Supervisor’s declarations of a local health emergency and the State of California’s d eclaration of a State of Eme rgency on March 4, 2020, and the declaration o f a National Emergency on March 13, 2020; and
WHEREAS, beginning on March 16, 2 020, under the auth ority of CCMC Section
3.09.020, the C ity Manager has issued an initial Public Order and 39 Supplements to Public Order, that included at various times business closures, restrictions on non -essential activities, advising residents they should remain at home, mask and distancing requ irements when around persons not in one’s immediate family, capacity requirements for businesses a s well as refraining from social gatherings, and , at times, closing of indoor portions of non -essential businesses, and most recently, proof of vaccination to enter indoor portions of certain categories of businesses and indoor portions of City facilities; and WHEREAS, the Public Order s issued by the City Manager have all been confirmed by the City Council; and
WHEREAS, to mitigate the spread of COVID -19 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rec ommended that people “ avoid crowded spaces ,” “choose events that take
-2-
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9 10
11 12
13 14
15 16
17 18
19 20
21 22
23 24
25 26
27 28
29 30
31 place outside with enough space for attendees to stay at least six-feet apart,” and to “have a virtual gathering”; and
WHEREAS, due to the continuing community transmission of COVID -19 in the County of Los Angeles, and the ongoing concerns about the Omicron variant, where even fully vaccinated and boosted persons who become infected can spread to others, the County of Los Angeles continues to issue Public Health Orders, with the most recent Order issued on January 10, 2022 (January 10 County Order); and
WHEREAS, the January 10 County Order was issued in light of the extremely high numbers of COVID cases due to the Omicron variant, to wit, 45,584 new cases on January 9, 2022, and the County goal “to lessen the severity of the Omicron and Delta variant surge in Los Angeles County.” The January 10 County Order sets o ut the isolation and quarantine requirements in alignme nt with the State Public Health Officer’s recent guidelines, and also requires employers to provide and require “well-fitted medical grade” masks, or higher; and WHEREAS, although the daily new cas e numbers have dropped significantly since early January, on February 7, 2022 there were 4,360 new cases reported, exceedin gly high compared to the pre-Omicron surge; testing positivity has a 7-day average of 8.39%, while the pre-Omicron low was 0.8% on Oc tober 16, 2021, and the number of persons hospitaliz ed as of February 6, 2022 was 2,841, compared to the pre -Omicron low of 588 on November 27, 2021; and
WHEREAS, Johns Hopkins University report ing 399,780,444 confirmed COVID- 19 cases globally as of February 8, 2022, and 5,758,946 deaths; 76,968,345 confirmed cases in the United States, with 907,605 deaths. In California, there have been 8,127,081 confirmed cases, with 80,640 deaths. Furth er, as o f February 6, 20 22, the Los Ange les County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) reported a total of 2,731,409 cases in Los Angeles County with 29,457 deaths, which includes 6,950 cases and 123 deaths in Culver City; and WHEREAS, on March 17, 2020, California Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N -29-20, which suspended a nd modified t he t eleconferencing requirements under the
-3-
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9 10
11 12
13 14
15 16
17 18
19 20
21 22
23 24
25 26
27 28
29 30
31 Brown Act so that legislative bodies may hold public meetings via teleconference as long as the meeting agenda identifies the teleconferencing procedures to be used; and WHEREAS, on June 11, 2021, Go vernor Newsom issued Executive Order N -08- 21, which extended the provision of N-29-20 concerning the conduct of public meetings through September 30, 2021; and
WHEREAS, California Assembly Bill 361 (AB361) was signed into law on September 16, 2021, amending Government Code Section 54953; and WHEREAS, AB 361 has several requirements to ensure the public is able to watch public meetings and make public comments during the teleconferenced public meetings , including:
• Providing notice of the means by which memb ers of the public may access the meeting and offer public comment, including an opportunity for all persons to attend via a call-in option or an internet-based service option; • Restricting the Legislative Body from taking further action on agenda items when there is a d isruption which prevents the public agency from broadcasting the meeting, or in the event of a disruption within the local agency’s control which prevents members of the public from offer ing public comments, until public access is restored;
• Prohibiting the legislative bo dy from requiring public comments to be submitted in advance of the meeting and specifying the le gislative body must provide an opportunity for the public to address the le gislative body and offer comment in real time;
• Prohibiting the legislative body from closing the public comment period until the public comment period has elapsed or until a reasona ble amount of time has elapsed; and
WHEREAS, the City is already implement ing the above p ublic meeting requirements now codified in Government Code Section 54953(e)(2)(B-G); and WHEREAS, Government Code Section 54953(b)(3) permits public meetings to be conducted by teleconference but requires agendas be posted at all teleconfer ence locations, each teleconference location sh all be id entified in the notice and agenda o f the meeting or proceeding, and each teleconference location shall be accessible to the public; and WHEREAS, Government Code Section 54953(e)(3)( A-B) provides an al ternative to having public meetings in accordan ce with Government Code Section 54953(b)(3) when City
-4-
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9 10
11 12
13 14
15 16
17 18
19 20
21 22
23 24
25 26
27 28
29 30
31 Council has reconsidered the circumstances of the COVID -19 state of emergency an d that the following circumstances exist:
1. The state of emergency as a resu lt of COVID -19 continues to directly impact the ability of the membe rs of City Council and t he members of the City’s subordinate Commissions, Boards and Committees to meet safely in person; or
2. The State of California and the City of Culver City continue to impose or recommend measures to promote social distancing; and
WHEREAS, the City of Culver City continues to impose and recommend public health protocols, including measures to promote social distancing, such as:
1. Requiring City employ ees to either be va ccinated or have a medical or religious exemption approved;
2. Requiring staff and the public to wear well-fitted masks in City facilities;
3. Posting COVID -19 safety measures in City facilities, and on the City’s social media pages.
4. Allowing the public to condu ct certain types of City business online rather than in person; and
WHEREAS, the City h eld its first meeting pursuant to AB 361 on October 11, 2021, and on October 26, 2021 the City adopted a Resolution to make the required findings under AB361, and further reconsidered the local emergency on November 18, 2021, December 13, 2021, and January 10, 2022, and adopted a Resolution each time, making the required findings; and
WHEREAS, the proposed action is exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act ( CEQA) in accordance with CEQA Guidelines Section 15378(b )(5), in that adopting a Resolution to continue to conduct teleconferenced public m eetings for city Council a nd all the City’s Commissions, Boards and Committe es does not m eet CEQA's definition of a “ project,” because the action does not have the potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonabl y foreseeable indirect physical change in the e nvironment, and because the acti on constit utes organizational or admin istrative activities of governments that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the
-5-
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9 10
11 12
13 14
15 16
17 18
19 20
21 22
23 24
25 26
27 28
29 30
31 environment, and is exempt pursuant to Section 15269(c) of the CEQA Guidelines, as specific actions necessary to prevent or mitigate an emergency; and WHEREAS, the City Council has considered all information related to this matter, as presented at the public meetings of the City Council id entified herein, including any supporting reports by City Staff, and any information provided during public meetings.
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Culver City, California, DOES HEREBY RESOLVE as follows:
SECTION 1. Declares that t he ab ove recitals are true and c orrect and are incorporated into this Resolution as findings of the City Council.
SECTION 2. Finds that City Council has reconsidered the circumstan ces of the COVID-19 state of emergency and local emergency on October 26, 2021, November 18, 2021, December 13, 2021, January 10, 2022, and again on February 14, 2022, and that one of the following circumstances exist:
• The state of eme rgency as a result of COVID-19 continues to d irectly impact the abi lity of the members of City Council and the members of the City’s subordinate Commissions, Boards and Committees to meet safely in person; or
• The State of California, Los Angeles County and the City of Culver City continue to im pose o r recommend measures to promote social distancing.
SECTION 3. Declares that, as a result of the findings in Section 2 above, the City Manager is authorized to continue to implement teleconferen ced public meetings for City Council and all the City’s Commissions, Boards and Committees pursuant to Assembly Bill 361.
SECTION 4. Finds that the proposed action is exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in accordance with CEQA Guidelines Section 15378(b)(5), in that a dopting a Resolution to authorize the City to conduct teleconferenced public meetings for all the City’s Commissions, Boards and Committees does not meet CEQA's definition of a “pr oject,” because the action does not have the potential for resulting in eith er a