DATE: May 4, 2026
TO: Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Stefan Chatwin, City Manager
FROM: Priscilla Schaus, Communications Director/City Clerk DEPARTMENT: Communications/City Clerk
SUBJECT: RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING POLICY ON HOW TO ADDRESS
DISRUPTION OF REMOTE ACCESS DURING PUBLIC OPEN
MEETINGS OF CITY COUNCIL IN COMPLIANCE WITH SB 707
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a resolution (Attachment 1) establishing a Disruption Policy that will establish steps on how to address disruption of telephonic or internet service connection during public open meetings of City Council in compliance with Senate Bill 707 (“SB 707”).
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
SB 707 requires the City to establish a policy on how to address disruption of telephonic or internet service connection during a public open meeting of City Council (Government Code section 54953.8). The policy must be implemented by July 1, 2026.
BACKGROUND/ANALYSIS
On October 3, 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 707 into law with the intent to strengthen open meeting laws, promote governmental transparency, and increase public participation during local government meetings. SB 707 requires all “eligible legislative bodies” to comply with additional meeting requirements for public open meetings to be accessible for public viewing and participation. The City meets the statutory definition under SB 707 to be an “eligible legislative body” because the City population exceeds 30,000 residents.
As an “eligible legislative body,” the City is required to offer remote public access to open public meetings by either (1) two-way telephonic service or (2) two-way audiovisual
platforms (Government Code section 54953.8). The City already complies with this SB 707 requirement of conducting City Council open session meetings in a hybrid format via Zoom, which meets the definition of a two-way audiovisual platform 1. Additionally, to ensure public access and participation, the two-way audiovisual platform shall provide the public with an opportunity to provide public comment with the same time allotment as a person attending a meeting in person. Furthermore, SB 707 requires all “eligible legislative bodies” to establish a policy on how to address disruption of telephonic or internet service connection that occurs during public open meetings. The City Council is the City’s only “eligible legislative body” for purposes of this policy.
By July 1, 2026, the City Council will need to formally adopt a policy that establishes the City’s procedures on how to address disruption of remote public access to open session meetings of City Council. Staff prepared a policy to comply with the new Brown Act provisions and the policy meets the statutory requirements under SB 707. Specifically, the policy outlines the procedural steps for Council to follow if the hybrid Zoom platform is disrupted which will include Council to decide whether to adjourn the open session or recess from open session for one hour or until remote access services are restored. If remote access services cannot be restored within one hour and Council intends to continue with open session, then Council must conduct a roll-call vote confirming that good faith efforts were made and that the public interest in continuing the meeting outweighs the need for remote access (Government Code Section 54953.4(b)(1)).
Members of the public will still be able to view City Council meetings using any of the resources listed below if the hybrid Zoom platform services cannot be restored:
• Web stream; or
• Meeting in-person location
Upon adoption, the requirements under the policy would take effect immediately.
California Environmental Quality Act
The adoption of the policy not subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Public Resources Code Section 21000, et seq. and the CEQA Guidelines (14 Cal. Code Regs. §§ 15000 et. seq.), including without limitation, Public Resources Code section 21065 and California Code of Regulations 15378 as this is not a “project” that may cause a direct, or reasonably foreseeable indirect, physical change in the environment.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact on the City associated with the adoption of the Disruption Policy. 1 “Two-way audiovisual platform” means an online platform that provides participants with the ability to participate in a meeting via both an interactive video conference and a two-way telephonic service. A two-way audiovisual platform may be structured to disable the use of video for the public participants. (Government Code Section 54957.96 (b)(1)).
CITY COUNCIL VISION, MISSION, and VALUE/PRIORITY AREA
City Council Operations and Improved Community Engagement ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1 — Resolution
Attachment 2 — Disruption Policy