Item Number: 8
City Council / Board of Directors
Written Communications
Meeting of: May 19, 2026
Submitted By:
Jennifer Thompson, City Clerk
Andre de Bortnowsky, Legal Counsel
Subject:
Policy regarding disruption of telephonic or internet services occurring during meetings of the City Council pursuant to Senate Bill 707
Recommendation:
That the City Council adopt City Council Policy CP-26-01 approving the procedures for recessing and reconvening its meetings in the event of a disruption in telephonic or internet services during an open and public meeting.
Fiscal Impact:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this action.
Background:
On October 3, 2025, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 707 into law. SB 707 added significant new requirements to the Ralph M. Brown Act, Government Code Sections 54950—54963 (the “Brown Act”), to encourage and accommodate public participation at meetings.
A specific subset of these new Brown Act requirements that become effective on July 1, 2026, apply only to meetings of an “Eligible Legislative Body” as defined in Brown Act Section 54953.4(e)(2). An Eligible Legislative Body (“ELB”) is any of the following:
(A) A city council of a city with a population of 30,000 or more. (B) A county board of supervisors of a county with a population of 30,000 or more.
(C) A city council of a city located in a county with a population of 600,000 or more.
(D) The board of directors of a special district that has an internet website and meets certain other boundary/size/employment/revenue requirements. 2 3
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Based on the above definitions, only the Victorville City Council (“City Council”) qualifies as an ELB. However, given that all City Council meetings also include those of the various bodies for which the City Council sits ex officio as the governing board, to the extent that this practice continues, the meetings of those non-ELBs will also be affected by the Brown Act changes described below.
Effective July 1, 2026, and subject to certain exceptions, Brown Act Section 54953.4(b)(1) requires that in addition to all other open meeting requirements of the Brown Act, public meetings of ELBs must:
(A) Provide for remote attendance by members of the public (either 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.”
(B) If adequate telephonic or internet service is operational at the meeting location during only a portion of the meeting, allow for public attendance (either via a two-way telephonic service or a two-way audiovisual platform) during that portion of the meeting.
(C) Provide remote public meeting participants with the opportunity to provide public comment via the two-way telephonic service or a two-way audiovisual platform, giving them the same time allotment as those making in-person comments.
In addition, on or before July 1, 2026, ELBs must approve at a noticed public meeting in open session, and not on the consent calendar, a policy regarding disruption of telephonic or internet service occurring during meetings subject to the above requirements. The policy must address the procedures for recessing and reconvening a meeting in the event of disruption and the efforts the ELB shall make to attempt to restore the service. The policy must further contain certain disruption guidelines, which require the ELB to:
(A) Take a recess and try in good faith to restore service for at least one hour; and
(B) If service cannot be restored within one hour, and in order to proceed with the meeting, upon reconvening, conduct a roll call vote confirming that:
(1) Good faith efforts were made in accordance with the adopted policy to restore service; and
(2) The public interest in continuing the meeting outweighs the interest in remote public access.
Discussion:
City Council Policy CP-26-01 provides the framework to address the procedures for recessing and reconvening a City Council meeting should a disruption of telephonic or internet service during meetings occur and the good faith efforts that City Staff will make to attempt to restore service. Furthermore, the policy includes the process for reconvening 2 3
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the meeting if telephonic or internet service is unable to be restored in compliance with the provisions outlined in Brown Act Section 54953.4(b)(1).
Staff remains available for any or comments you might have.
Attachments: A. City Council Policy CP-26-01