City Council Agenda Report
TO: Mayor Clauzel and Members of the City Council
FROM: Ken Irwin, City Manager
BY: Nubia Goldstein, City Attorney
MEETING DATE: December 5, 2023
ITEM NO: 8.1
SUBJECT: Consider adoption of Resolution No. 2023-51 regarding the use of Zoom during City Council meetings, limiting Zoom participation to City of Patterson staff and consultants attending a City Council meeting remotely, but prohibiting public comment via Zoom unless a City Council member is participating in the meeting via Zoom.
RECOMMENDATION
Motion to Consider Adoption of Resolution No. 2023-51 regarding the use of Zoom during City Council meetings, limiting Zoom participation to City of Patterson staff and consultants attending a City Council meeting remotely, but prohibiting public comment via Zoom unless a City Council member is participating in the meeting via Zoom.
BACKGROUND
In recent months there have been instances of members of the public anonymously interrupting city council meetings throughout the region through virtual attendance platforms such as Zoom.
The City Council considered this item at the October 17, 2023 City Council meeting and voted to temporarily suspend the use of zoom for public comments and directed staff to bring this item back for the City Council’s consideration at the December 5, 2023 meeting. Before the temporary suspension, the City of Patterson (“City”) allowed public participation in City Council meetings via Zoom at all City Council meetings, whether a City Council member is attending the City Council meeting remotely or not.
DISCUSSION:
Following the October 17th meeting, staff has researched the approach taken by other municipalities around the state following the “zoom bombing” events. From fifty (50) cities that have considered this matter, more than half have suspended public comments via zoom altogether while other cities have elected to keep their zoom protocols in place. Other cities are still considering all options, and some have modified their public comment protocols to allow remote public comment for items that are public hearings while not allowing non-agenda public comments via zoom.
The Brown Act is California’s statutory “open meetings” requirement, focused on providing transparency at the local government level. The Brown Act requires, among other obligations, that “legislative bodies,” a category that encompasses city councils, include in “[e]very agenda for regular meetings…an opportunity for members of the public to directly address the legislative body on any item of interest to the public, before or during the legislative body’s consideration of the item, that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body,” as well as an opportunity to comment during special meetings.
The Brown Act also requires that all regular and special meetings be held in the physical presence of the public, with limited exceptions. During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, AB 361 allowed for meetings to be held entirely virtually. Under the provisions of AB 361, virtual meetings were required to permit live public comment via the internet. AB 361 became inactive in February of 2023 when the State of Emergency associated with the Covid-19 pandemic expired. Since the expiration of AB 361, City Council members have only been allowed to participate in meetings virtually under certain circumstances,. When a member of the City Council teleconferences into a meeting, the opportunity for public comment must also be available virtually.
At a meeting that all City Council members participate in-person, there is no requirement that members of the public be allowed to comment virtually. The Brown Act requires merely that the public be permitted to directly address the City Council, and notes that the “legislative body…may adopt reasonable regulations” for streamlining public comment.
Gov. Code, § 54954.3.
Gov. Code, § 54953.
Gov. Code, § 54953(e)(1).
Ibid.
Gov. Code, §§ 54953(b), (e).
Gov. Code, §§ 54953(e), (f).
Gov. Code, § 54954.3.
FISCAL IMPACT
N/A
POLICY ALTERNATIVES:
The Council’s Options are:
1. Adopt the Resolution without any changes;
2. Adopt the Resolution with changes and revisions ; or
3. Reject the Resolution entirely.