Transition Plan for Returning to In-Person Public Meetings Staff has evaluated options for returning to in-person public meetings included the proposed Transition Plan below. The proposed Transition Plan incorporates City Council feedback received on October 17, 2022, practices and procedures used by other cities, and the City’s Town Hall technology and procedures.
Hybrid Meetings
At the October 17, 2022, meeting Council expressed interest in a hybrid meeting model where the public could participate in meetings both in-person and remotely. Staff has considered a variety of factors related to hybrid meetings that are outlined below.
Types of Public Meetings
The City has twelve (12) Brown Act bodies that are required to comply with California open meeting laws including noticing and public access to meetings. This includes the decisionmaking bodies of the City Council, Design Review Board (DRB), and Planning Commission (PC) in addition to nine (9) City advisory committees (currently the Shores and Undergrounding Project Advisory Committees are on hold). The City’s current practice is to televise and record City Council, DRB, and PC meetings. Advisory committee meetings have historically been open to the public during the meeting in compliance with the Brown Act but are not televised or recorded. During COVID, advisory committees were streamed live to the City’s website through Zoom so members of the public could view the meetings; however, advisory committee meetings were not archived or recorded.
Hybrid meeting technology will be integrated through the Del Mar Television’s (DMTV) equipment. As such, staff recommends that the City implement hybrid meetings only for the City Council, DRB and PC and that advisory committee meetings take place exclusively inperson. Televising advisory committee meetings to facilitate hybrid meeting participation would cost approximately $21,000 a year at minimum, which is not currently budgeted, and would require an amendment to the City’s contract with DMTV. Consistent with the City’s long-standing practice, members of the public will continue to have the option of submitting written comments for all public meetings.
Remote and In-Person Participation
Public meeting participants include Brown Act body members, staff, the public, and others such as presenters from regional organizations, applicants/appellants for Planning related matters, and City consultants. Hybrid meetings must comply with Brown Act requirements for various participants.
Under the Brown Act, if the City Council does not adopt a Resolution making the required public health findings under Government Code 54953, remote participation of Council members must comply with the teleconferencing requirements of the Brown Act including noticing the alternate address on the agenda, making that location open to the public, and posting the agenda at the alternate location. Staff recommends that remote participation of members be limited and used only when necessary, in accordance with the Brown Act, as was the City’s practice prior to COVID. All Brown Act noticing requirements must be met when members participate remotely.
2 December 5, 2022 Item 12
City Council Agenda Report
In-Person Public Meetings Transition Plan
December 5, 2022
Additionally, on January 1, 2023, Assembly Bill (AB) 2449 Changes to Remote Attendance Rules under Ralph M. Brown Act’s Open Meeting Laws will go into effect. AB 2449 amends the Brown Act to impose different rules for remote member attendance at public meetings including allowing members to participate remotely in limited circumstances, such as “just cause” or “emergency circumstances” if noticing and other requirements of AB 2449 are met.
The City Attorney’s Office and staff will provide the City Council with more details on the provisions and requirements of AB 2449 in the coming weeks.
Under the proposed Transition Plan, it is recommended that staff participating in the meetings appear in-person unless a special exception is granted by the City Manager. Under the proposed hybrid meeting model, members of the public may participate in the meeting by making public comment either in-person via a speaker slip or remotely via Zoom. Nothing in the Brown Act prohibits a local agency from providing the public with additional remote participation options.
Lastly, staff is seeking Council direction on whether to allow other meeting participants, such as consultants and applicants/appellants/their representatives for Planning related matters, to participate remotely. Hybrid technology, described in more detail in the next section, will allow remote participants to share their screen and comment live via audio and video.
Whether or not to allow other meeting participants to join the meetings remotely is a policy decision for the City Council.
Staff recommends that any City policy be applied consistently to remote participants for reasons of equity and fairness. For example, the City Council may decide to implement a policy allowing applicants and appellants to participate remotely if requiring in-person participation would cause the item to be continued or delay City action on the item.
Technology Installation and Timing
To facilitate hybrid meetings, the City’s Information Technology (IT) and City Clerk divisions have worked closely with DMTV and the City’s IT infrastructure vendor AVI to identify the technology needed to smoothly facilitate hybrid meetings. The hybrid equipment identified will integrate with the City’s Audio/Video (A/V) and PEG television broadcast technology to allow remote Zoom participants to effectively communicate with in-person participants and to make both in-person and remote participants visible and audible to the public viewing the meetings via TV, streaming, or in-person in the Town Hall.
Following the October 17, 2022, based on feedback provided by the City Council, the City Manager approved the purchase of hybrid meeting technology from AVI which costs approximately $8,500 and will take approximately six (6) weeks to deliver and install.
Installation timelines will need to work around events booked in the Town Hall and other operational activities. In addition to installation, staff will need time to work with DMTV to test the technology and train staff who will be managing remote participants on its use. As such, the soonest staff will be able to facilitate hybrid meetings will be January 9, 2023, which is the first City Council meeting to occur in 2023.
3 December 5, 2022 Item 12
City Council Agenda Report
In-Person Public Meetings Transition Plan
December 5, 2022
Meeting Logistics
Under the hybrid meeting model, public comment may be provided by both in-person and remote participants. To ensure a smooth transition when receiving comments from in-person and remote participants, it is recommended that the in-person public speakers be called first followed by remote public speakers. Calling each group, in-person and remote, of speakers together will be easiest for staff and DMTV to manage in a way that is viewer friendly for those watching the meeting from home or in-person.
Prior to COVID, up to two donations of time were permitted for in-person public comments allowing one speaker to speak for up to nine (9) minutes if they receive two (2) donations of time (3 minutes each). Staff recommends that the City return to this policy allowing in-person public speakers to receive donations of time from those present at the meeting. However, due to logistical issues, staff is recommending that donations of time continue to not be accepted from remote participants.
Similarly, prior to COVID, public speakers were able to use PowerPoint presentations to accompany their public comment. PowerPoints and other presentation materials were to be submitted to the City Clerk or staff by 12:00 pm the day of the meeting. The Transition Plan envisions the City will return to its practice of allowing public speakers, both in-person and remote, to present PowerPoint presentations as long as the presentation is submitted to the City Clerk or staff within the required time frame and can be provided within the 3 minutes of time allotted per speaker or longer if donations of time are received.
Hybrid Meeting Staff Support
Staff supporting hybrid meetings for the City Council, Design Review Board, and Planning Commission will need to be trained on the new hybrid meeting technology. Additional staff may be needed to manage meetings with items that have many public speakers. Lastly, the Mayor and Design Review Board and Planning Commission chairs will need to coordinate with staff to ensure all in-person and remote speakers have an opportunity to comment.
In-Person Meeting Trainings
The City has not held public meetings in-person since February 2020, and many current elected/appointed members and staff will need training on use of dais and Town Hall technology including microphones, dais laptops and monitors, the speaker timer, and room orientation such as emergency exits, lighting, and blind controls.
Additionally, staff has received requests from some Councilmembers and members of the public for situational awareness training which would include law enforcement best practices and an overview of Town Hall safety technology. The training will be led by the San Diego County Sheriff staff, and participants will have the opportunity to ask questions. Ideally, the City would hold in-person trainings for elected/appointed members and staff on both Town Hall technology and situational awareness prior to resuming in-person meetings.
In-Person COVID Safety Precautions
Most cities in the San Diego County are meeting in-person with some cities holding remote meetings when needed due to COVID outbreaks. Of the 18 cities in San Diego County, only 4 December 5, 2022 Item 12
City Council Agenda Report
In-Person Public Meetings Transition Plan
December 5, 2022
National City is requiring staff and elected/appointed members to wear masks; members of the public attending the meeting are not required to mask. Some cities are encouraging, but not requiring, the public and meeting participants to wear masks. Additionally, the City has the option to make COVID-19 home tests available to staff and elected/appointed members who wish to voluntarily test prior to meetings. Current public health guidance does not recommend or require masks for public gatherings such as public meetings. Similarly, public health guidance does not currently require social distancing.
At this time, staff is recommending that masks be encouraged, but not required, by members of the public, elected/appointed members and staff at meetings. To reduce the number of people in the Town Hall at any given time, staff can increase the distance between each seat for meeting attendees. Staff is seeking direction on the City Council’s preferred safety procedures for public meetings. Safety procedures will be implemented consistently for all City public meetings. The City will continue to monitor public health guidance related to COVID-19 and will advise the City Council on any changes to COVID safety requirements or recommendations from local, state or federal public health agencies.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Staff is requesting that the City Council approve a budget adjustment to the PEG funds account (27.5211.2300) in the amount of $8,500, which is needed to cover the costs of additional hardware to integrate Zoom participants into the existing A/V and PEG television broadcast system and implementation services.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
The proposed City Council action does not constitute a “project” under the definition set forth in California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378 because it will not have a potential to result in a direct or indirect physical change in the environment and is, therefore, not subject to CEQA. No further action under CEQA is required.
NEXUS TO CITY COUNCIL GOALS AND PRIORITIES:
This is an operational item unrelated to the City Council’s Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Goals and Priorities.
5 December 5, 2022 Item 12