California’s Covid-19 State of Emergency lapsed on Feb. 28 and community planning groups will now be required by the Brown Act ensuring open public meetings to begin meeting in-person only.
Under the new guidelines, such groups may only conduct hybrid or remote meetings under special circumstances. There is also a state bill pending in the legislature, Senate Bill 411, that would allow advisory groups to host hybrid (in-person and remote) meetings. However, this bill has yet to be adopted.
“The Brown Act does not contain a grace period, so these changes take effect immediately,” said Nicole Darling, director of the City’s Communications Department. “City boards, committees, and commissions must comply with the open meetings requirements of California’s Ralph M. Brown Act. The Brown Act’s provisions concerning so-called ‘hybrid’ meetings will be in effect, resulting in changes from current practices. Among them: members of boards, committees, and commissions will not be able to attend meetings virtually except in specific circumstances, and virtual attendees will not count toward the number of members needed to attain a quorum.”
“The emergency provisions of the Brown Act related to virtual meetings (i.e. by teleconference) will no longer be in place and all CPG meetings will need to be either conducted in-person or comply with Brown Act requirements for virtual meetings,” said City deputy planning director Tait Galloway in a letter to City staff dated Feb. 16. “Starting March 1, all CPG meetings, including standing subcommittee meetings, are to be conducted under the Brown Act as they were prior to Gov. Newsom’s Covid-19 declared state of local emergency. CPGs will need to secure an accessible physical meeting location or comply with the requirements for the Brown Act for virtual meetings.”
Brown Act requirements of CPGs include:
– Posting agendas at ALL teleconference locations containing information about the meeting, including the street address of all teleconference locations.
– Allowing the public access to ALL teleconference locations. A teleconference location is a physical location where a CPG member is attending the meeting virtually such as a home or office.
– Allow the public to make public comments from each teleconference location.
– All votes are to be taken by roll call.
CPG members attending virtually will need to disclose their teleconference location on the agenda and allow public access to their location, including giving personal addresses. CPGs are responsible for providing all necessary technology to conduct a teleconference meeting at ALL teleconference locations. This includes computers, wifi access, and audio/visual equipment. Also, anytime there is a technical interruption that prevents the CPG from broadcasting the meeting or prevents the public from providing comments remotely, the CPG cannot take further action on action items until public access is restored.
Reacting to the new rules strongly suggesting planners return to pre-pandemic live meetings, community leaders in Pacific Beach said they’ve already adapted to the change.
“The PB Planning Group resumed in-person meetings with our March 8 meeting at the PB Library’s Community Room, which is the same location where we met prior to the pandemic,” said longtime group chair Karl Rand.
“The library staff has been very accommodating. I believe most people are very happy about our return to in-person meetings, and I have not received any complaints about our discontinuing Zoom. We will continue to meet in the Community Room on the second Wednesday of each month, starting at 6:30 p.m. Our agendas are posted at least 72 hours in advance at pbplanning.org.”
“Our meetings aren’t bound by the same requirements as others, so we can continue to hold our meetings virtually,” said Katie Matchett, president of beautifulPB, a nonprofit working to create a more sustainable and equitable PB. “Our plan is to move to semi-regular in-person meetings, with virtual meetings the rest of the time.”
Noting she both attends and leads “a ton of public meetings,” Matchett said, “There is value to meeting in-person, and the dynamic and interaction is different (sometimes better) with in-person meetings. However, as a mom of young kids, I recognize that virtual meetings are more realistic for many people, and can allow for participation from a broader and more diverse group. My own preference is for a combination of virtual/hybrid and in-person meetings, to maximize participation.”
“Discover Pacific Beach will be holding all meetings in person,” said executive director Sunny Lee.
