RESOLUTION NO.______
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN RIALTO, CALIFORNIA, ADOPTING CITY COUNCIL MEETING POLICIES RELATING TO REMOTE PARTICIPATION BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHEREAS, beginning July 1, 2026, Senate Bill No. 707 (“SB 707”) requires eligible legislative bodies to provide members of the public an opportunity to attend open and public meetings through a two-way telephonic service or a two-way audiovisual platform, subject to the exceptions stated in Government Code section 54953.4; and WHEREAS, Government Code section 54953.4, subdivision (b)(1)(A)(i)(I)(ib), requires an eligible legislative body, on or before July 1, 2026, to approve, at a noticed public meeting and in open session, a policy addressing disruption of telephonic or internet service occurring during meetings where remote access is required; and WHEREAS, Government Code section 54953.4, subdivisions (b)(1)(A)(i)(I)(ib)(Ib)–(Ic), establish specific requirements for recessing and reconvening a meeting and for making good faith efforts to restore service if a disruption prevents members of the public from attending or observing the meeting remotely; and WHEREAS, the City Council is the City’s only “eligible legislative body” for purposes of Government Code section 54953.4; and WHEREAS, the City Council desires to adopt a policy that implements the requirements of Government Code section 54953.4; and WHEREAS, SB 707 also amended the Ralph M. Brown Act (Gov. Code, § 54950 et seq.) to expressly provide that the authority of a presiding member of a legislative body to remove, or cause the removal of, an individual for disrupting a meeting extends to teleconferenced meetings and to members of the public participating in a meeting via a two-way telephonic service or a two-way audiovisual platform; and WHEREAS, the City Council desires to also adopt procedures governing the removal or limitation of remote participants as authorized by SB 707; and WHEREAS, the City Council further desires to adopt additional policies for the conduct of City Council meetings; and WHEREAS, attached hereto as Exhibits “A” and “B” and incorporated herein by this reference are the Remote Access Service Disruption Policy and the Remote Participant Disruption Policy, respectively; and WHEREAS, all legal prerequisites to the adoption of this Resolution have been satisfied.
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Rialto, California, does resolve, declare, determine and order as follows:
SECTION 1. The recitals above are true and correct and are incorporated into the body of this Resolution by reference.
SECTION 2. The City Council hereby adopts the Remote Access Service Disruption Policy and the Remote Participant Disruption Policy, attached hereto as Exhibits “A” and “B”, respectively, and both of which are incorporated herein by this reference.
SECTION 3. This Resolution implements Government Code section 54953.4. It does not create rights beyond those required by state law and does not expand the obligations imposed by that section.
SECTION 4. This Resolution shall become effective immediately upon its adoption.
SECTION 5. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Resolution.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this ____th day of ________, 2026.
Joe Baca, Mayor
ATTEST:
Barbara A. McGee, City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Eric S. Vail, City Attorney
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO ) ss
CITY OF RIALTO )
I, Barbara A. McGee, City Clerk of the City of Rialto, do hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution No. was duly passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the city council of the City of Rialto held on the day of , 2026.
Upon motion of Councilmember , seconded by Councilmember , the foregoing Resolution No. was duly passed and adopted.
Vote on the Motion:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTAIN:
ABSENT:
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and the Official Seal of the City of Rialto, this _____ day of _______________, 2026. ____________________________________
Barbara A. McGee, City Clerk
EXHIBIT “A”
REMOTE ACCESS SERVICE DISRUPTION POLICY
[Attached]
REMOTE ACCESS SERVICE DISRUPTION POLICY
PURPOSE
Senate Bill No. 707 (2025) (“SB 707”) requires all “eligible legislative bodies” to offer remote public access for meetings through either (1) two-way telephonic service or (2) two-way audiovisual platforms. Pursuant to SB 707, the City Council of the City of Rialto (“City Council”) is an “eligible legislative body” and is required to adopt, on or before July 1, 2026, a policy on how to address telephonic or internet service connection disruptions that inhibit the public from accessing and/or observing a public, open meeting of the City Council.
The purpose of this policy is to establish procedures for responding to disruption(s) of telephonic or internet services that provide two-way remote access for the public to attend and participate during public, open meetings of City Council, as required under SB 707. Pursuant to Government Code Section 54953.4, the City Council adopts this policy to ensure statutory compliance, transparency, public access, and government operation during technological disruptions of public, open meetings of the City Council.
DEFINITIONS
For purposes of this policy:
“Disruption” means any failure, outage, or other interruption in the City’s telephonic or internet service that prevents members of the public from attending or observing in public, open meetings of the City Council. “Remote Access Services” means the two-way telephonic service and/or two-way audiovisual platform used to provide real-time remote public attendance and observation of public, open meetings of the City Council.
APPLICABILITY
This policy applies to all open and public meetings of the City Council at which remote public participation is required per Government Code Section 54953.4, subdivision (b)(1)(A)(i)(I)(ia), but does not apply in those circumstances where the Ralph M. Brown Act (Gov. Code, § 54950 et seq.) provides that remote public access is not required.
DISRUPTION PROCEDURES
Response to Disruption of Remote Access Service
If Remote Access Services are disrupted during a public, open meeting of the City Council, then the following steps must take place:
The City Council shall immediately announce the disruption to the public; The City Council must either adjourn the open session or recess from open session for at least one (1) hour to make a good faith effort to restore the Remote Access Services; During recess, the City Council may meet in closed session as permitted by Government Code Section 54953.4, subdivision (b)(1)(A)(i)(I)(ib)(Ib); and If following recess of the meeting, Remote Access Services have not been restored within (1) hour, then the City Council may reconvene the meeting if it adopts, by rollcall vote, a finding that it made good faith efforts to restore the Remote Access Services and that the public interest in continuing the meeting outweighs the public interest in remote public access.
Efforts to Restore Remote Access Service
The City Council shall make good faith efforts to restore Remote Access Services, which may include, but are not limited to, the following:
Troubleshooting platform or teleconferencing software;
Resetting or replacing audiovisual equipment;
Attempting alternative connection methods;
Contacting necessary support staff or service providers; and/or Switching to back-up equipment or platforms, if available.
Pursuant to the Section (V) of this policy, the City Clerk shall make a record and enter into the meeting minutes the disruption and restoration efforts undertaken by the City Council.
Reconvening Open Session
Open session may reconvene upon restoration of Remote Access Services or, if after one (1) hour has elapsed from the time of disruption, the following finding, or a substantially similar finding, has been adopted by a roll call vote of the City Council:
“The City Council of the City of Rialto has made good faith efforts to restore telephonic or internet service in accordance with its adopted policy and the public interest in continuing the meeting outweighs the public interest in remote public access.”
RECORD-KEEPING
If Remote Access Services were disrupted, then the City Clerk shall make a record and enter into the meeting minutes all of the following information:
The nature and time of the disruption;
Whether open session was adjourned or the City Council complied with the procedures set forth in Section (IV)(A) with respect to a recess of the meeting; The restoration efforts undertaken;
The time the meeting was reconvened (if applicable); and The finding adopted pursuant to Section (IV)(C) (if applicable).
REVIEW AND UPDATES
This policy may be reviewed and amended from time to time by the City Council. As expressly required by Government Code Section 54953.4, subdivision (b)(1)(A)(i)(I)(ib)(Ia), amendments to this policy must be approved at a properly noticed public meeting in open session, and may not be approved on the consent calendar.
EXHIBIT “B”
REMOTE PARTICIPANT DISRUPTION POLICY
[Attached]
REMOTE PARTICIPANT DISRUPTION POLICY
Purpose; Application; Intent.
The purpose of this policy is to facilitate participation and the free exchange of ideas during public meetings, and to promote mutual respect, civility, and orderly conduct in all public meetings. The policy is not intended to deprive any person of their rights to public participation under applicable law. This policy shall be interpreted and implemented in a manner consistent with applicable law, including, but not limited to, the U.S. and California constitutions, and Government Code Sections 54954.3, 54957.9, 54957.95, and 54957.96. This policy is adopted pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.96. Accordingly, this policy applies to any members of the public participating in a City Council meeting via a “two-way telephonic service” or a “two-way audiovisual platform,” as those terms are defined below.
Definitions.
For the purposes of this policy, the following definitions apply:
“Disruption” or “disrupt” means any behavior that actually disrupts, disturbs, impedes, or renders infeasible the orderly conduct of the meeting. Examples of this include, but are not limited to the following:
Playing or displaying of obscene audio and/or visual content, including, but not limited to, doing so via screen-sharing or any other means.
Attempting or engaging in the technological hijacking or other unauthorized remote access of the two-way telephonic service or two-way audiovisual platform used by the City to allow remote participation by members of the City Council and/or members of the public.
Engaging in behavior that constitutes a true threat of force.
Interrupting a person who is speaking to the City Council during such person's allotted time. “Mute” means to limit a remote participant’s ability to participate in a meeting through the two-way audiovisual platform and/or the two-way telephonic service, such as disabling the use of video and/or audio by remote participants. “Presiding officer” means the member of the City Council presiding over a City Council meeting, such as the Mayor or Mayor Pro Tem. “Remote participant” means a person who is participating in a City Council meeting via a two-way telephone service or a two way audiovisual platform. “Remove” means ejecting a remote participant from the two-way telephone service or a two way audiovisual platform that the remote participant is using to participate in a City Council meeting. “True threat of force” has the same meaning as provided in Government Code Section 54957.95(b)(2), which defines the term “true threat of force” as “a threat that has sufficient indicia of intent and seriousness, that a reasonable observer would perceive it to be an actual threat to use force by the person making the threat.” “Two-way audiovisual platform” has the same meaning as provided in Government Code Section 54957.96(b)(1), which defines the term “two-way audiovisual platform” as “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.” “Two-way telephonic service” has the same meaning as provided in Government Code Section 54957.96(b)(2), which defines the term “two-way telephonic service” as “a telephone service that does not require internet access and allows participants to dial a telephone number to listen and verbally participate.” Prohibition.
Remote participants are prohibited from engaging in behavior that disrupts a City Council meeting such that the City Council is unable to continue the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Enforcement Procedure.
If a remote participant disrupts a City Council meeting, then the presiding officer may initially mute the remote participant in order to provide a warning to the remote participant to cease such disruption and shall provide such warning to the remote participant.
When giving the warning, the warning shall identify the disrupting behavior and the manner in which the remote participant must comply and inform them that failure to cease their disrupting behavior may result in their removal from the meeting. A warning shall not be necessary when it would not be effective due to extraordinary circumstances.
An example of extraordinary circumstances in which no warning is required includes, but is not limited to, engaging in the technological hijacking or other unauthorized remote access of the two-way telephonic service or two-way audiovisual platform used by the City to allow remote participation by members of the City Council and/or members of the public.
Where the remote participant continues to disrupt the meeting following a warning, the presiding officer may then mute the remote participant.
Where a remote participant continues to disrupt the meeting after being muted, the presiding officer may further order that the remote participant be removed from the meeting entirely.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the presiding officer is authorized to immediately order the removal of a remote participant engaging in the technological hijacking or other unauthorized remote access of the two-way telephonic service or two-way audiovisual platform used by the City to allow remote participation by members of the City Council and/or members of the public, without the need to first provide a warning pursuant to Section IV(A) or to first mute pursuant to Section IV(B) before removing the remote participant pursuant to Section IV(C). 4918-0791-0818 v3
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