Agenda Report
Fullerton City Council
MEETING DATE: JANUARY 3, 2023
TO: CITY COUNCIL / SUCCESSOR AGENCY
SUBMITTED BY: LUCINDA WILLIAMS, CITY CLERK
PREPARED BY: LUCINDA WILLIAMS, CITY CLERK
SUBJECT: TELECONFERENCED MEETINGS AFTER CALIFORNIA EMERGENCY DECLATION RESCINDED
SUMMARY
Staff requests direction for teleconferenced meeting accommodations following recission of the statewide emergency declaration.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends continued use of teleconference technology for public comments, committee meeting broadcasts and staff and consultant participation in public meetings and continue to take roll call votes. This recommendation would apply to all City of Fullerton legislative bodies subject to the California Brown Act.
CITY MANAGER REMARKS
The City Manager concurs with the City Clerk’s recommendation to continue to use teleconference technology to allow the public to participate. City Council appointed Committees will be required to participate in person under the Brown Act rules.
The City Council could alternatively vote to not allow teleconference participation from the public.
FISCAL IMPACT
No additional fiscal impact.
PRIORITY POLICY STATEMENT
This item matches the following Priority Policy Statements:
Fiscal and Organizational Stability.
DISCUSSION
A teleconferenced meeting is a meeting of a legislative body with any number of legislative body members participating in different locations through electronic audio, video or both. State emergency regulations allowed Fullerton to utilize teleconference technology during the COVID-19 pandemic without noticing each teleconference location to accommodate remote participation in legislative body meetings for legislative body members and allow for remote comments from the public.
California’s Assembly Bill 361 (2021) allows local agency legislative body members to continue remote participation in meetings during a declared state of emergency through December 31, 2023, provided local agencies comply with specified requirements. Governor Newsom intends to rescind the California state of emergency on February 28, 2023 which will remove the conditions needed to implement AB 361. This would require legislative body members to attend meetings in person unless they follow California Brown Act noticing requirements for legislative body member teleconference participation or follow new provisions for just cause or emergency teleconference participation contained in AB 2449 (2022) through January 1, 2026.
The Brown Act prescribes the following requirements for a legislative body member to participate in a meeting using teleconference technology:
Legislative body may use teleconferencing for all purposes during any meeting.
At least a quorum of the legislative body must participate from locations within the local agency’s jurisdiction.
The agency may make additional teleconference locations available for the public.
The meeting notice and agenda must specifically identify the teleconference location, including a full address and room number, as applicable.
The agenda must be posted at each teleconference location 72 hours before a regular meeting, even if a hotel room or residence.
The public must have access to each teleconference location and have technology, such as a speakerphone, to enable the public to participate.
The agenda must provide the opportunity for the public to address the legislative body directly at each teleconference location.
The legislative body must vote by roll call.
The Governor signed AB 2449 in 2022 to allow a non-majority number of legislative body members to utilize teleconferencing without publicly noticing their location and making the location accessible to the public in certain circumstances including:
Just Cause: childcare needs, a contagious illness, physical or mental disability not otherwise accommodated by the ADA, travel while on official business of the legislative body or another state or local agency Emergency Circumstances: a physical or family emergency that prevents a member from attending in person.
At least a quorum of the legislative body members must participate in person from a singular physical location situated within the local agency jurisdiction, clearly identified on an agenda and open to the public. The legislative body must vote by roll call.
Remote participation would be contingent on request to and action by the legislative body. A member must request that the legislative body approve remote participation due to emergency circumstances if the request does not allow sufficient time to place the proposed action on the posted agenda for the meeting.
The member must make a separate request for each meeting in which they seek to participate remotely. The member shall publicly disclose at the meeting, before the legislative body takes any action, whether any other individuals 18 years of age or older are present in the room at the remote location with the member and the general nature of the member’s relationship with such individuals.
A member may participate solely through teleconference for no more than three consecutive months or 20 percent of the regular meetings of the legislative body within a calendar year or no more than two meetings if the legislative body meets fewer than ten times per calendar year.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City only broadcasted City Council and Planning Commission meetings with the assistance of a contractor attending the meetings in person. The introduction of teleconferenced technology during the pandemic provided a means to broadcast meetings held in the Council Chamber without the assistance of an hourly contractor but at a lower production quality than Planning Commission or City Council meetings.
Staff recommends continuing use of teleconference technology for all legislative body meetings to broadcast all City Council and board / commission / committee meetings, allow remote public participation in meetings and allow staff and consultants to participate in meetings via teleconference. A disruption in the teleconference technology would not stop the meeting unless a member of the legislative body participates remotely.
Legislative body members may choose to wear masks while sitting at the dais which can make it difficult to determine how each member votes during a voice vote. Staff recommends legislative bodies continue to use roll call voting for the time being to ensure the legislative bodies, the public and staff can clearly understand how members vote on each item. cc: City Manager Eric J. Levitt
Attachments:
Attachment 1 - AB 2449 text
Teleconferenced Meetings After Emergency Declaration Rescinded January 3, 2023 - Page PAGE \* MERGEFORMAT 2