1 Martin McTaggart
From: Martin McTaggart
Sent: Monday, June 1, 2026 10:55 AM
Cc: Alex Khojikian; Prasanna Rasiah
Subject: Senate Bill 707 Questions and Response
Good morning, City Council (Bcc’d),
StaƯ has received questions regarding the fiscal impact of Senate Bill 707 (SB 707), as well as an inquiry about relocating Senior Advisory Commission meetings to the Council Chambers to facilitate hybrid participation.
SB 707 Fiscal Impacts:
As outlined within the agenda report, staƯ's review indicates that the City is already largely compliant with SB 707 due to practices adopted during and following the pandemic, as well as recent investments in Council Chamber technology. As a result, implementation costs are expected to be modest and primarily related to staƯ time and administration rather than significant new expenditures.
The most notable new requirement is agenda translation. Based on current American Community Survey data, Spanish is the only language that meets the statutory threshold for translation. At this time, the City Clerk’s OƯice plans to utilize automated translation tools with staƯ review and quality control, resulting in minimal direct costs.
Most other SB 707 requirements are already being met through existing City practices, including remote attendance options, equal opportunities for remote public comment, centralized meeting information webpages, and Brown Act compliance procedures. Remaining impacts are expected to be limited to minor administrative updates, outreach eƯorts, staƯ training, and a small one-time expense associated with installing a community agenda translation bulletin board adjacent to the City's existing agenda posting location.
Accordingly, staƯ anticipates that SB 707 can be implemented largely within existing resources.
Senior Advisory Commission Relocation to Council Chambers/Hybrid Broadcasting:
Separate from the requirements of SB 707, and subject to Council direction, the City can accommodate relocating the Senior Advisory Commission to the Council Chambers and providing hybrid participation. There are, however, some administrative and cost considerations the Council may wish to consider.
Since the City already maintains the necessary Zoom infrastructure, technology costs for relocating the Senior Advisory Commission to Council Chambers would be minimal. If the Council wished to provide full MCTV production and broadcasting services comparable to City Council meetings, the estimated cost would be approximately $592 per meeting. Based on the Senior Advisory Commission's current schedule of six meetings per year, this would result in an estimated annual cost of approximately $3,552 for meeting production services. To help provide context regarding the City’s current public meeting broadcasting framework, the City currently utilizes three (3) diƯerent meeting formats for its legislative bodies:
1. Full Broadcast Meetings (MCTV + Zoom)
o City Council
o Planning Commission
o Sustainability and Infrastructure Commission
These meetings receive full MCTV production, including live switching and broadcasting services and include remote participation through Zoom.
2. Hybrid Meetings (Zoom Only)
o Community Relations Commission
o Civic Arts Committee/Commission
o Library Board (as needed)
o Park and Recreation Commission (as needed)
These meetings oƯer remote participation through Zoom but do not receive MCTV production or broadcasting support.
3. In-Person Meetings Only
o Senior Advisory Commission
o Personnel Board
o Measure S Oversight Committee
These meetings are currently conducted in person and do not oƯer a remote participation option.
2 Council may also wish to consider that the Senior Advisory Commission could meet in the Council Chambers and oƯer hybrid participation through Zoom without MCTV production services. While this approach would provide remote access at a lower cost, viewers would receive a static camera view of the meeting rather than MCTV's live- produced broadcast. This option would provide many of the accessibility benefits of hybrid participation while minimizing ongoing meeting production costs.
Best wishes,
Martin
Martin McTaggart, CMC
City Clerk | City Clerk’s Department
330 W. 20th Ave., San Mateo, CA 94403
650-522-7042 | [email protected]
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