Page 5 - FebDefComp

HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT
Inter-Departmental Correspondence

DATE: February 17, 2022

TO: Deferred Compensation Advisory Committee

FROM: Jay Castellano, Employee Benefits

SUBJECT: Resolution to Make Findings Allowing Continued Remote Meetings
Pursuant to AB 361

RECOMMENDATION:
Adopt a resolution finding that, as a result of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic state
of emergency declared by Governor Newsom, meeting in person would present
imminent risks to the health or safety of attendees.

BACKGROUND:
On June 11, 2021, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-08-21, which rescinded
his prior Executive Order N-29-20 and set a date of October 1, 2021, for public agencies
to transition back to public meetings held in full compliance with the Brown Act. The
original Executive Order provided that all provisions of the Brown Act that required the
physical presence of members or other personnel as a condition of participation or as a
quorum for a public meeting were waived for public health reasons. If these waivers
were to fully sunset on October 1, 2021, legislative bodies subject to the Brown Act
would have to contend with a sudden return to full compliance with in-person meeting
requirements as they existed prior to March 2020, including the requirement for full
physical public access to all teleconference locations from which board members were
participating.

On September 16, 2021, the Governor signed AB 361, a bill that formalizes and modifies
the teleconference procedures implemented by California public agencies in response to
the Governor’s Executive Orders addressing Brown Act compliance during shelter-in-
place periods. AB 361 allows a local agency to continue to use teleconferencing under
the same basic rules as provided in the Executive Orders when certain circumstances
occur or when certain findings have been made and adopted by the local agency.

AB 361 also requires that, if the state of emergency remains active for more than 30
days, the agency must make findings by majority vote every 30 days to continue using
the bill’s exemption to the Brown Act teleconferencing rules. The findings are to the
effect that the need for teleconferencing persists due to the nature of the ongoing public