HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 4121 - SB 707 Distruption of Telephonic or Internet Service PolicyResolution No. 4121
STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) RESOLUTION NO. 4121
COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE)ss
CITY OF SAN JACINTO )
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SAN JACINTO, CALIFORNIA, ADOPTING SB 707
DISRUPTION OF TELEPHONIC OR INTERNET SERVICE
POLICY
WHEREAS, the Ralph M. Brown Act (California Government Code section 54950
et seq.) ensures that meetings of legislative bodies are conducted openly and that the
public has the opportunity to participate in those meetings; and
WHEREAS, Senate Bill 707 (2025) amended the Brown Act to require eligible
legislative bodies to adopt, on or before July 1, 2026, a policy addressing how the agency
will respond to disruptions in telephonic or internet service that prevent members of the
public from participating remotely; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of San Jacinto desires to establish clear
procedures for responding to technological disruptions during meetings.
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of San Jacinto hereby finds,
determines, and resolves as follows:
SECTION 1. The recitals set forth above are true and correct and are
incorporated into this resolution by this reference.
SECTION 2. The City hereby adopts the SB 707 Disruption of Telephonic or
Internet Service Policy, as set forth in Exhibit “A” and attached hereto.
SECTION 3. This Resolution shall be effective as of the date of adoption. The
Clerk shall certify the adoption of this Resolution.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 5th day of May, 2026, by the following
vote:
AYES: Vandever, Sanchez, Ayala, Ruiz
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Ledezma
ABSTAIN: None
CITY OF SAN JACINTO:
________________________
Crystal Ruiz, Mayor
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Resolution No. 4121
ATTEST:
_________________________
Jill Theriot, Deputy City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
BEST, BEST & KRIEGER LLP
____________________________
Craig P. Hayes, City Attorney
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Resolution No. 4121
CERTIFICATION
STATE OF CALIFORNIA)
COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE) ss
CITY OF SAN JACINTO)
I, Jill Theriot, Deputy City Clerk of the City of San Jacinto, DO HEREBY CERTIFY
that the foregoing Resolution No. 4121 was passed, approved, and adopted at the
Regular Meeting of the San Jacinto City Council on the 5th day of May 2026, by the
following vote:
AYES: Vandever, Sanchez, Ayala, Ruiz
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Ledezma
ABSTAIN: None
WITNESS MY HAND AND OFFICIAL SEAL this 5th day of May 2026
_____________________________
Jill Theriot, Deputy City Clerk
City of San Jacinto
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EXHIBIT “A”
CITY OF SAN JACINTO:
SB 707 DISRUPTION OF TELEPHONIC OR INTERNET SERVICE POLICY
1. Background
Senate Bill 707 (2025) amended the Brown Act to require eligible legislative bodies to
adopt, on or before July 1, 2026, a policy addressing how the agency will respond to
disruptions in telephonic or internet service that prevent members of the public from
participating remotely.
2. Purpose
This policy establishes procedures for responding to a disruption in the telephonic or
internet services that provide two-way remote public access to meetings of the City
Council of the City of San Jacinto (“City”), as required by the Brown Act (Government
Code section 54953.4). The policy ensures transparency, public participation, and the
continuation of meetings during technological disruptions.
3. Definitions
“Service Disruption” means any failure, outage, or other interruption to the City’s remote
access services that prevents members of the public from participating in a City Council
meeting through the remote access service.
“Disrupting” means engaging in behavior during a meeting of the City Council that actually
disrupts, disturbs, impedes, or renders infeasible the orderly conduct of the meeting and
includes, but is not limited to one of the following:
a. A failure to comply with reasonable and lawful regulations adopted by the City
Council of the City of San Jacinto.
b. Engaging in behavior that constitutes use of force or a true threat of force.
“Remote access services” means the two-way telephonic service and/or two-way
audiovisual platform used to provide real-time remote public attendance and observation
of meetings.
“Two-way audiovisual platform” means an online platform that provides participants with
the ability to participate in a meeting via both an interactive video conference and a two-
way telephonic service.
“Two-way telephonic service” means a telephone service that does not require internet
access and allows participants to dial a telephone number to listen and verbally
participate.
“True threat of force” means a threat that has sufficient indicia of intent and seriousness,
that a reasonable observer would perceive it to be an actual threat to use force by the
person making the threat.
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EXHIBIT “A”
4. Applicability
This policy applies to all open and public meetings of the City Council at which remote
public participation is required under the Brown Act. Consistent with the Brown Act, this
policy shall not apply to the following meetings:
a. Meetings held to attend a judicial or administrative proceeding to which the City is
a party.
b. Meetings held to inspect real or personal property provided that the topic of the
meeting is limited to items directly related to the real or personal property.
c. Meetings held to meet with elected or appointed officials of the United States or
the State of California, solely to discuss a legislative or regulatory issue affecting
the City and over which the federal or state officials have jurisdiction.
d. Meetings held to meet in or nearby a facility owned by the City, provided that the
topic of the meeting is limited to items directly related to the facility.
e. Meetings held in an emergency situation pursuant to Government Code section
54956.5.
5. Remote Public Access Generally
When remote public access is required under the Brown Act, the City Council shall
provide members of the public with an opportunity to attend and participate in the meeting
using a two-way audiovisual platform or a two-way telephonic service, provided that
adequate telephonic or internet service is operational at the meeting location.
If adequate telephonic or internet service is not operational at the meeting location, the
City Council shall not be required to provide remote access. If adequate telephonic or
internet service is operational for only a portion of the meeting, the City Council shall
provide remote access during that portion of the meeting.
If a two-way audiovisual platform is used, the City Council shall:
a. Publicly post and provide a call-in option as well; and
b. Activate any automatic captioning function that is available in the audiovisual
platform.
If a two-way audiovisual platform is not provided, the City Council shall provide a two-way
telephonic service.
Members of the public participating remotely shall be provided the same opportunity to
provide public comment as members of the public attending in person, including the same
time allotment.
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EXHIBIT “A”
6. Response to Service Disruption
If the Mayor or City Clerk becomes aware of a service disruption:
a. The Mayor or City Clerk shall immediately announce the service disruption to the
public.
b. The Mayor shall call for a recess of the open session and may convene the
legislative body in an authorized closed session, consistent with the Brown Act.
c. The recess shall last for one hour or until service is restored, whichever is earlier.
d. During the recess, City staff shall make a good faith effort to diagnose and restore
the disrupted service.
7. Reconvening the Open Session
After the expiration of the hour, if service has not been restored, the Mayor or City Clerk
shall report on the status of staff’s efforts to restore remote access services, and the City
Council may reconvene to:
a. Adjourn the meeting;
b. Extend the recess to allow staff more time to make a good faith effort to restore
remote access services; or
c. Continue the open session portion of the meeting by adopting, by roll call vote, the
following or a substantially similar finding:
“The City of San Jacinto has made good faith efforts to restore telephonic or internet
service in accordance with its adopted policy, and the public interest in continuing the
meeting outweighs the public interest in remote public access.”
Upon adoption of the finding, the City Council may continue the open session portion of
the meeting despite the fact that remote access services have not been restored.
8. Recordkeeping
The City Clerk shall enter a brief statement into the meeting minutes, including:
• The nature and time of the service disruption;
• The time the meeting was reconvened (if applicable);
• Any finding adopted pursuant to Section 7 of this policy.
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EXHIBIT “A”
9. Response to Members of the Public Disrupting a Meeting
If the Mayor or City Clerk becomes aware of a member of the public who is attending the
meeting through remote access services and is disrupting the meeting or otherwise
preventing other members of the public from attending or observing the meeting remotely
or in-person:
a. The Mayor or City Clerk shall warn the person who is participating through remote
access services that he or she is disrupting the meeting, and his or her failure to
cease that behavior may result in his or her removal.
b. If the person to whom the Mayor gave the above warning persists in disrupting the
meeting, the Mayor shall order staff to:
i. mute or otherwise limit the individual’s ability to disrupt the meeting, while
allowing the individual to continue to observe and attend the meeting; or
ii. remove the individual from the meeting if paragraph (b)(i) does not address
the disrupting behavior or is not available using the remote access service.
10. Review and Updates
This policy may be amended by the City Council at a noticed public meeting in open
session and may not be placed on the consent calendar.
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