Title
Recommendation to Approve Findings to Allow City Meetings to be Conducted via Teleconference. (City Clerk)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Every 30 days, the City Council must make certain findings to allow members of the City Council, Boards, and Commissions to continue to participate in City of Alameda (City) meetings via teleconference without meeting certain Brown Act requirements.
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
The City has been allowing City Council, Board, and Commission members to participate in meetings via teleconference since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On September 16, 2021, the Governor signed Assembly Bill No. 361 - Open Meetings: State and Local Agencies (AB 361), taking effect immediately, authorizing local agencies to conduct meetings via teleconference without complying with certain requirements imposed by the Brown Act. The Bill does not address whether members of the public attend the meetings in person or via teleconference. On October 5, 2021 the City Council adopted an urgency ordinance suspending certain provisions of the Sunshine Ordinance and made the required findings.
This agenda report is being again presented so City Council, Board, and Commission members can continue to participate via teleconference, notwithstanding certain provisions of the Brown Act and the City's Sunshine Ordinance.
AB 361 requires the City Council to make findings (set forth below) every 30 days to continue allowing members participate in meetings via teleconference without complying with certain requirements imposed by the Brown Act, such as the agenda listing teleconference locations that are each required to be accessible to the public for in-person attendance.
Due to the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic, staff recommends that the City Council consider the circumstances of the state of emergency and find that the state of emergency continues to directly impact the ability of the ...
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