TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
Quinn M. Barrow, City Attorney
SUBJECT:Title
City Council Reconsideration of the Circumstances of the Declared COVID-19 Emergency to Determine Whether the City Council Should Continue to Hold Remote Meetings Pursuant to AB 361's Special Teleconferencing Requirements (City Attorney Barrow).
ACCEPT STAFF RECOMMENDATION
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council make the following findings so that meetings of the City Council will be subject to the special Brown Act requirements for teleconference meetings: (1) the City Council has reconsidered the circumstances of the COVID-19 state of emergency; and (2) state and local officials continue to recommend measures to promote social distancing.
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BACKGROUND:
On March 4, 2020, Governor Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency to exist in California due to the spread of COVID-19. The Governor subsequently issued numerous executive orders suspending or modifying state laws to facilitate the response to the emergency. Among other things, these executive orders superseded certain Brown Act requirements and established special rules to give local public agencies greater flexibility to conduct teleconference meetings, including authorizing council members and board members to participate in meetings from remote locations without compliance with certain noticing requirements. Among the suspended teleconferencing rules are the Brown Act's requirements that: (1) the notice of the meeting and agenda identify the location of the remote location; (2) the remote location is accessible to the public; and (3) the agenda provides an opportunity for the public to directly address the council at each teleconference location. The special rules suspending these Brown Act requirements expired on September 30, 2021.
On September 16, 2021, in a...
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