CITY OF PACIFICA
COUNCIL AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT
9/26/2022
1 SUBJECT:
Update on Returning to In-Person City Council and City Committee / Commission Meetings RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Hear an update about the status of the pandemic and confirm return to in-person City Council and Commission/Committee meetings beginning October 10, 2022.
STAFF CONTACT:
Kevin Woodhouse, City Manager
(650) 738-7409
[email protected]
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION:
On March 4, 2020 Governor Gavin Newsom declared a State of Emergency to make additional resources available, formalize emergency actions already underway across multiple state agencies and departments, and help the State prepare for broader spread of COVID-19. On March 16, 2020, the City Manager, acting in his capacity as Director of Emergency Services, proclaimed the existence of a local emergency pursuant to PMC 4-2.05(a) and executed the "Proclamation of the Existence of a Local Emergency Regarding Novel (new) Coronavirus ("COVID-19")" ("Proclamation"). On March 18, 2020, the City Council of the City of Pacifica adopted Resolution No. 18-2020 to ratify the Proclamation of local emergency due to COVID-19 and continues to affirm the existence of the local emergency.
Beginning with the Special City Council Meeting held on March 18, 2020 for the purpose of adopting Resolution No. 18-2020 ratifying the City Manager’s Proclamation of the Existence of a Local Emergency Regarding Novel (new) Coronavirus (“COVID-19”), all City Council, Committee and Commission meetings have been held via videoconference using a Zoom Meeting or Zoom Webinar platform with no physical meeting location open to the public. The Governor’s Executive Orders N-25-20 and N-29-20 suspended certain requirements of the Brown Act to allow for public meetings to be held via teleconferenced meetings, either via audio or video or both, for all members of the body to participate from remote locations with no physical meeting location open to the public. Assembly Bill 361 (AB 361) was signed by the Governor on September 16, 2021 and went into effect immediately upon signature as urgency legislation (codified under Government Code § 54953). AB 361 amends the Brown Act to provide additional provisions that allow meetings of legislative bodies to be conducted via teleconference without complying with the standard teleconferencing requirements of the Brown Act if the Governor has proclaimed a State of Emergency and certain conditions are met.
After having conducted City Council and City Committee / Commission meetings in a teleconference format with no physical location open to the public since March of 2020 due to the state and local emergency and health and safety concerns related to COVID-19, at the City Pacifica City Council 2
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Council meeting held on February 28, 2022, the City Council approved the return to in-person City Council and City Committee and Commission meetings beginning March 14, 2022 after hearing an update based on statics from the County of San Mateo Health Officer indicating a decrease in case rates, lower health risks and higher vaccination rates for COVID-19.
Beginning with the March 14, 2022 City Council meeting, City Council meetings and Planning Commission meetings returned to an in-person meeting format with a live broadcast by Pacific Coast Television on Comcast channel 26 and online Live Stream with a phone-in line to allow for participation by members of the body, as necessary, and members of the public to provide verbal input to the meeting, including public comments. The Zoom format was not utilized upon the return to in-person meetings. However, with the County of San Mateo Health Officer May 6, 2022 update regarding COVID-19 transmission rates, the County of San Mateo Health Officer reported that the County was experiencing an increase in COVID-19 incidence, transmission and hospitalizations as well as the vulnerability of certain segments of the population at that time, the City Council made findings at the City Council meeting held on May 23, 2022 to adopt Resolution No. 23-2022 making findings as required by AB 361 to permit the City Council and City Committees and Commissions to conduct teleconferenced meetings, if necessary, due to the health and safety concerns relating to COVID-19 and directed that City Council and City Committee and Commission meetings return to being conducted by teleconference with no physical location beginning with the June 13, 2022 City Council meeting. The City Council subsequently adopted Resolution Nos. 26-2022, 41-2022 and 46-2022 on June 13, 2022, July 11, 2022, and August 8, 2022, respectively, reaffirming the findings pursuant to AB 361 to continue to conduct public meetings via teleconference due to health and safety concerns relating to COVID-19.
Current Analysis and COVID-19 Update:
While the state of emergency issued by the Governor remains in place, the update from the County of San Mateo Health Officer on September 13, 2022 informed the public that an updated bivalent COVID-19 booster that protects against the original COVID-19 virus strain and the Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5 has been approved by the FDA and is now readily available in San Mateo County. This report from the Health Officer also indicated that the number of patients hospitalized in San Mateo County with COVID-19 was 21 as of September 12, 2022 compared to levels of between 30 and 60 for most of the summer, and that the decrease is encouraging. The Health Officer states that there is significantly less risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death compared to earlier periods of the pandemic due to the many tools available to reduce COVID-19 severity and in this context of increased community immunity against severe disease, our number of reported cases and hospitalizations categorize us in CDC’s Low community level.
Given these improvements, the City Manager recommends a return to in-person City Council meetings beginning with the October 10, 2022, City Council meeting followed by other Commission/Committee meetings in October. With this recommendation, City Council and Planning Commission meetings would be conducted in-person with a live broadcast by Pacific Coast Television on Comcast channel 26 and online Live Stream. As previously directed by the City Council, the City will continue its pilot-test of the additional alternative option for providing live public comment during the Council and Planning Commission meetings as a “phone-in for public comment” hybrid system, which allows for someone who is watching a streaming version of the meeting on television or computer to call in via telephone to make public comments. City staff implemented this system during the March through May 2022 period of in-person meetings Pacifica City Council 3
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held by the City Council and Planning Commission. It should be noted that the phone-in option is susceptible to technology disruptions and/or delays and is not a guaranteed method of meeting participation. When meetings are conducted in-person, according to the Brown Act they can continue and are not required to be adjourned when such technological disruptions occur.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION:
The Council could delay the return to in-person meetings and continue meetings via teleconference with no physical location open to the public if findings can be made pursuant to AB 361 that health and safety concerns relating to COVID-19 continue to exist. A new Resolution will need to be adopted at the October 10, 2022 City Council meeting making findings pursuant to AB 361 in order to continue to permit teleconferenced meetings.
RELATION TO CITY COUNCIL GOALS AND WORK PLAN:
“An Engaged Community” - includes taking actions to restore trust in city government, expanding communication, and building community.
“Maintaining a Safe Community” - includes support our first responders (police, fire, public works), responding to emergencies, protecting people, property, businesses, and our infrastructure (streets, sidewalks, storm and waste water), and engaging in emergency preparedness and prevention activities.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this action.
ORIGINATED BY:
City Clerk
ATTACHMENT LIST: