The State of California’s Senate Bill 707 required that “all legislative bodies” offer remote public access for Town Council meetings effective on or before July 1, 2026.  The options were either to provide a two-way telephonic service or a two-way audiovisual platform.  The new Technical Disruption Policy addresses telephonic or internet service disruptions that would prevent the public from observing open Town Council meetings. 

    During an April 8 meeting the Council unanimously approved a mandatory equipment upgrade in order to conform to SB 707.  On the agenda for June 10 was the adoption of the Technical Disruption Policy, also unanimously approved.

    The policy contains several components, such as response to disruption of remote access services, efforts to restore remote access services, timing, inability to restore remote access services, record keeping, and review and updates.

    A staff report by Assistant Town Attorney Denise Bazzano stated, “If remote access services are disrupted due to technical issues such as loss of internet connectivity or power failure during public open meetings of Town Council then the following steps must take place:  Town Council shall immediately announce the disruption to the public; Town Council must either adjourn the open session or recess from open session for at least one hour to make a good faith effort to restore the remote access services; during recess, Town Council may meet in closed session as permitted by Government Code section 54953.4; and if following recess of the meeting, remote access services have not been restored within one hour, then Town Council may reconvene the meeting if it adopts, by roll call vote, a finding that it made good faith efforts to restore the remote access services and that the public interest in continuing the meeting outweighs the public interest in remote public access.”

    Bazzano’s report identifies the efforts to restore the remote access services as: troubleshooting platform or teleconferencing software; resetting or replacing audiovisual equipment; attempting alternative connection methods; contacting necessary support staff or service providers, or switching to back-up equipment or platforms, if available.

    With regards to timing, the open session may reconvene once services have been restored or if after one hour has elapsed since the initial disruption.

    During any disruption, the town clerk will keep a record and include into the meeting minutes:  the nature and time of the disruption; whether open session was adjourned or Town Council complied with the procedures pursuant to the details in the section entitled Response to Disruption of Remote Access Services; the type of restoration efforts undertaken; the time the meeting was reconvened (if applicable); and finding that remote access was unable to be restored pursuant to the section entitled Inability to Restore Remote Access Services.

    Any reviews and updates to the Technical Disruption Policy can be amended by the Town Council.

    Bazzano confirmed that other jurisdictions have adopted a similar policy, and that the Policy is limited only to Town Council meetings and does not apply to commission meetings, etc.