REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Action on a Resolution Extending AB 361 Implementation to Allow City Legislative Bodies to Hold Public Meetings Solely by Teleconference or Otherwise Electronically During the Governor's Proclaimed COVID State of Emergency
Report
COUNCIL PILLAR
Enhance Community Engagement and Transparency
BACKGROUND
On March 17, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-29-20 which suspended the Brown Act teleconferencing requirements so that legislative bodies could hold public meetings solely by teleconference, or otherwise electronically, without listing the teleconference locations and without any physical location, as long legislative bodies followed a set of requirements for noticing the meeting agenda and public participation, among other things. Subsequently on June 11, 2021, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-08-21, which sunset the Brown Act provisions of Executive Order N-29-20 on September 30, 2021.
On September 16, Governor Newsom signed AB 361 into law which allows local agencies to use teleconferencing without complying with specific Brown Act restrictions in certain state emergencies until January 1, 2024, at which point they are to be repealed, and the standard Brown Act teleconference requirements become effective again. The bill was an urgency measure, and it went into effect immediately.
DISCUSSION
AB 361 amended Government Code Section 54943 to allow a local agency to use teleconferencing for public meetings without requiring the teleconference location to be accessible to the public or a quorum of the members of the legislative body of the agency to participate from locations within the boundaries of the agency's jurisdiction during a Governor-proclaimed state of emergency in certain circumstances.
In order for a local agency to utilize AB 361's exemption to the Brown Act, there must be certain emergency conditions present. These include:
* There being a state-proclaimed state of emergency, and stat...
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