RESOLUTION NO.
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF THOUSAND OAKS APPROVING POLICY
RELATED TO DISRUPTION OF CITY TELEPHONIC
OR INTERNET SERVICE DURING CITY COUNCIL
MEETINGS AS REQUIRED BY SENATE BILL 707
WHICH AMENDED PARTS OF THE RALPH M.
BROWN ACT (GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION
54950 ET SEQ.)
WHEREAS, the City of Thousand Oaks is committed to preserving and nurturing public access and participation in meetings of the City of Thousand Oaks City Council; and
WHEREAS, all meetings of the City Council and are open and public, as required by the Ralph M. Brown Act (California Government Code sections 54950 – 54963), so that any member of the public may attend, participate, and watch these bodies conduct their business; and
WHEREAS, on October 3, 2025, the Governor signed Senate Bill (SB) 707, that amended and repealed various sections of the Ralph M. Brown Act, setting forth additional meeting requirements for eligible bodies; and WHEREAS, SB 707 states that all open and public meetings of the City Council shall include an opportunity for members of the public to attend via a two- way telephonic service or a two-way audiovisual platform, except if adequate telephonic or internet service is not operational at the meeting location; and WHEREAS, SB 707 requires that a policy regarding disruption of City telephonic or internet service occurring during meetings shall be approved by the eligible legislative body by July 1, 2026; and
WHEREAS, SB 707 specifies that the policy shall address the procedures for recessing and reconvening a meeting in the event of disruption and the efforts that the eligible legislative body shall make to attempt to restore the service.
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Thousand Oaks does resolve as follows:
Section 1. The Recitals set forth above are true and correct and are incorporated into this Resolution by this reference.
ATTACHMENT #1
CCD:610-10\lm\h\:common/agenda/SB 707/Disruption Policy Resolution.docx
5 7
0 8
Section 2. The City Council shall allow an opportunity for members of the public to attend and participate in its meetings by remote participation pursuant to California Government Code sections 54953.4(b)(1)(A)(i)(I)(ia).
Section 3. As required by California Government Code sections 54953.4(b)(1)(A)(i)(I)(ib)(Ia), City Council hereby approves the attached “Disruption of City Telephonic or Internet Service During Meetings of City Council Policy” (Exhibit A).
Section 4. This Resolution is effective immediately upon its adoption and shall be effective until the sunset date in accordance with Government Code section 54953(e), which is currently January 1, 2030, unless extended by law.
PASSED AND ADOPTED THIS 9th day of June, 2026, by the following vote:
Ayes:
Noes:
Absent:
________________________________
Mikey Taylor, Mayor
City of Thousand Oaks, California
ATTEST/CERTIFY:
____________________________________
Laura B. Maguire, City Clerk
Date Attested:_________________________
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Office of the City Attorney
____________________________________
Rosemary Koo, Assistant City Attorney
APPROVED AS TO ADMINISTRATION:
____________________________________
Andrew P. Powers, City Manager
The presence of electronic signature certifies that the foregoing is a true and correct copy as approved by the City of Thousand Oaks City Council on the date cited above.
CCD:610-10\lm\h\:common/agenda/SB 707/Disruption Policy Resolution.docx
5 7
0 8
City of Thousand Oaks
Administrative Policies and Procedures
SUBJECT:
Disruption of City Telephonic or Internet
Service During Meetings of City Council
DEPARTMENT: CCD
APP NO.:
6.0XX
Submission Date:
6/6/26
Revision Dates:
AUTHORITY:
City Council
Adoption/Approval Date:
6/6/26
Revision Dates:
PURPOSE:
This policy establishes procedures for responding to a disruption in the City’s telephonic or internet services that provide two-way remote public access to meetings of the City Council of the City of Thousand Oaks, as required by the Brown Act (Government Code section 54953.4). The policy ensures transparency, public participation, and the continuation of meetings during technological disruptions.
BACKGROUND:
Senate Bill 707 (2025) amended the Brown Act to require eligible legislative bodies such as the City Council to adopt, on or before July 1, 2026, a policy addressing how the agency will respond to disruptions in its telephonic or internet service that prevent members of the public from participating remotely.
DEFINITIONS:
“Service Disruption” means any failure, outage, or other interruption to the agency’s remote access services that prevents members of the public from participating in a City Council meeting through the remote access service.
“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 meetings. “Two-way audiovisual platform” means 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.
“Two-way telephonic service” means a telephone service that does not require internet access and allows participants to dial a telephone number to listen and verbally participate.
APPLICABILITY:
This policy applies to all open and public meetings of the City Council at which remote public participation is required under the Brown Act. This policy does not apply to any City Council- appointed boards, committees, or commissions.
Consistent with the Brown Act, this policy shall not apply to the following meetings of the City Council:
a. Meetings held to attend a judicial or administrative proceeding to which the City of Thousand Oaks is a party.
b. Meetings held to inspect real or personal property provided that the topic of the meeting is limited to items directly related to the real or personal property. c. Meetings held to meet with elected or appointed officials of the United States or the State of Exhibit A
CCD:610-10\lm\h\:common/agenda/SB 707/Disruption Policy Resolution.docx
5 7
0 8
California, solely to discuss a legislative or regulatory issue affecting the City of Thousand Oaks and over which the federal or state officials have jurisdiction. d. Meetings held to meet in or nearby a facility owned by the City of Thousand Oaks, provided that the topic of the meeting is limited to items directly related to the facility. e. Meetings held in an emergency situation pursuant to Government Code section 54956.5.
This policy pertains to the City’s telephonic or internet services that provide two-way remote public access to meetings of the City Council. This policy does not apply to observers’/speakers’ technology, one-way television broadcasts or one-way internet streams of City Council meetings.
The meeting may carry on if one or more one-way services are disrupted, so long as two-way public access is functioning.
PROCEDURE:
Response to Service Disruption
If the Mayor or City Clerk becomes aware of a disruption to the City’s remote access services:
a. The Mayor or City Clerk shall immediately announce the service disruption to the public. b. The Mayor shall call for a recess of the open session. c. During the recess, City staff shall make a good faith effort to diagnose and restore the disrupted service, which may include: troubleshooting platform or teleconferencing software, resetting or replacing audiovisual equipment, attempting alternative connection methods, contacting necessary support staff or service providers, switching to backup equipment or platforms, if available.
d. The recess shall last for at least one hour unless service is restore earlier. e. The City Clerk shall document the restoration efforts undertaken, which includes: entering a brief statement into the meeting minutes, the nature and time of the service disruption, the time the meeting was reconvened (if applicable), any finding adopted pursuant to following section titled Reconvening the Open Session.
Reconvening the Open Session
If service has been restored, the meeting may be reconvened by the Mayor.
If service has not been restored at the expiration of one hour, the Mayor will reconvene the meeting in open session. The Mayor or City Clerk shall report on the status of staff’s efforts to restore remote access services, and the City Council may reconvene to:
a. Adjourn the meeting;
b. Extend the recess to allow staff more time to make a good faith effort to restore remote access services; or
c. Continue the open session portion of the meeting by adopting, by roll call vote, the following or a substantially similar finding:
“The City of Thousand Oaks has made good faith efforts to restore City 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.” Upon adoption of the finding, the City Council may continue the open session portion of the meeting despite the fact that remote access services have not been restored.
Review and Updates
This policy may be amended by the City Council at a noticed public meeting in open session and may not be placed on the Consent Calendar portion of the meeting.