R114131
City Council Meeting: April 12, 2022 Santa Monica, California
RESOLUTION NUMBER 11413 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA MAKING FINDINGS AS REQUIRED BY AB 361
TO PERMIT COUNCIL AND CITY BOARD, COMMISSION, AND TASK FORCE
MEETINGS TO CONTINUE TO BE CONDUCTED BY TELECONFERENCE WHILE
THE COVID-19 EMERGENCY REMAINS IN PLACE
WHEREAS international, national, state, and local health and governmental
authorities are responding to an outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a novel
coronavirus named “SARS-CoV-2,” and the disease it causes has been named
“coronavirus disease 2019,” abbreviated COVID-19, (“COVID-19”); and
WHEREAS, on March 4, 2020, the Governor of the State of California declared a
state of emergency to make additional resources available, formalize emergency
actions already underway across multiple state agencies and departments, and help the
State prepare for broader spread of COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, on March 4, 2020, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
and Department of Public Health declared a local emergency and local public health
emergency to aid the regional healthcare and governmental community in responding to
COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, on March 13, 2020, the President of the United States of America
declared a national emergency and announced that the federal government would make
DocuSign Envelope ID: DB5DADC4-D808-4EC0-83E0-A8F8A7F643E1
2
emergency funding available to assist state and local governments in preventing the
spread of and addressing the effects of COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, on March 13, 2020, the City Manager, in his role as the Director of
Emergency Services, (“Director of Emergency Services”) issued an Executive Order of
the Director of Emergency Services of the City of Santa Monica Declaring the Existence
of a Local Emergency (“Executive Order”) declaring a local emergency pursuant to
Chapter 2.16 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code to ensure the availability of mutual
aid and an effective response to COVID-19 and this local emergency was restated on
March 14, 2020, through a revised declaration of local emergency to ensure compliance
with all digital signature requirements (“Revised Executive Order”); and
WHEREAS, the Governor’s March 4, 2021 declaration of a state of emergency
based on the COVID-19 pandemic remains in place; and
WHEREAS, the Proclamation of Existence of a Local Emergency issued by the
Director of Emergency Services on March 13, 2020, has been ratified by the City
Council on March 19, April 6, April 14, May 12, May 26, June 9, June 23, July 14, July
28, September 8, October 27, 2020, and December 15, 2020, and January 26, March
23, effective May 22, July 13, August 24, 2021, October 26, 2021, December 7, 2021,
and March 8, 2022, with the result that the proclamation of a local emergency based on
the COVID-19 pandemic remains in place; and
WHEREAS, throughout the emergency resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic,
the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (“LACDPH”) has issued a series
of Health Officer Orders containing mandates and recommendations for keeping safe
and preventing the spread of COVID-19; and
DocuSign Envelope ID: DB5DADC4-D808-4EC0-83E0-A8F8A7F643E1
3
WHEREAS, the Ralph M. Brown Act, Government Code Sections 54950-54963,
allows for meetings of legislative bodies of a local agency, as those terms are defined in
the Brown Act, to occur via teleconferencing subject to certain requirements, particularly
that the legislative body notice each teleconference location of each member that will be
participating in the public meeting, that each teleconference location be accessible to
the public, and that members of the public be allowed to address the legislative body at
each teleconference location, see Government Code Section 54953(b)(3); and
WEHREAS, Paragraph 3 of Executive Order N-29-20, issued by the Governor on
March 17, 2020, among other things, suspended the Brown Act requirements for
teleconferencing, provided that notice and accessibility requirements were met, the
public was allowed to observe and address the legislative body at the meeting, and the
legislative body had a procedure for receiving and swiftly resolving requests for
reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities, specifying that this
suspension would remain in place during the period in which state or local public health
officials have imposed or recommended social distancing measures; and
WHEREAS, paragraph 42 of Executive Order N-08-21, issued by the Governor
on June 11, 2021, withdrew and replaced paragraph 3 of Executive Order N-29-20’s
suspension of the Brown Act requirements for teleconferencing with a similar
suspension of those requirements that it specified would remain in place only through
September 30, 2021; and
WHEREAS, on September 16, 2021, the Governor signed into law Assembly Bill
No. 361 (“AB 361”), which, until January 1, 2024, authorizes a local agency to use
teleconferencing without complying with the teleconferencing requirements imposed by
DocuSign Envelope ID: DB5DADC4-D808-4EC0-83E0-A8F8A7F643E1
4
the Brown Act when a legislative body of a local agency holds a meeting during a
declared state of emergency, as that term is defined, when state or local health officials
have imposed or recommended measures to promote social distancing or when the
legislative body has determined that meeting in person would present imminent risks to
the health or safety of attendees; and
WHEREAS, AB 361 requires legislative bodies that hold teleconferenced
meetings under its abbreviated teleconferencing procedures to give notice of the
meeting and post agendas, as described, to allow members of the public to access the
meeting and address the legislative body, to give notice of the means by which
members of the public may access the meeting and offer public comment, including an
opportunity for all persons to attend via a call-in option or an internet-based service
option, and to conduct the meeting in a manner that protects the statutory and
constitutional rights of the parties and the public appearing before the legislative body;
and
WHEREAS, AB 361 requires the legislative body to take no further action on
agenda items when there is a disruption which prevents the public agency from
broadcasting the meeting, or in the event of a disruption within the local agency’s
control which prevents members of the public from offering public comments, until
public access is restored; and
WHEREAS, AB 361 prohibits the legislative body from requiring public comments
to be submitted in advance of the meeting and specifies that the legislative body must
provide an opportunity for the public to address the legislative body and offer comment
in real time; and
DocuSign Envelope ID: DB5DADC4-D808-4EC0-83E0-A8F8A7F643E1
5
WHEREAS, AB 361 prohibits the legislative body from closing the public
comment period and the opportunity to register to provide public comment, until the
public comment period has elapsed or until a reasonable amount of time has elapsed,
as specified; and
WHEREAS, when there is a continuing state of emergency, or when state or
local officials have imposed or recommended measures to promote social distancing,
AB 361 requires a legislative body to make specified findings not later than 30 days
after the first teleconferenced meeting pursuant to these provisions, and to make those
findings every 30 days thereafter, in order to continue to meet under AB 361’s
abbreviated teleconferencing procedures; and
WHEREAS, on September 20, 2021, to avoid potential conflict between AB 361
and Executive Order N-08-21, the Governor signed Executive Order N-15-21, which
specifies that Executive Order N-08-21 continues to govern meetings of local legislative
bodies through September 30, 2021; and
WHEREAS, on September 28, 2021, October 26, 2021, November 23, 2021,
December 14, 2021, January 11, 2022, February 8, 2022, March 8, 2022, and March
22, 2022, the City Council adopted Resolution Numbers 11362, 11378, 11384, 11390,
11393, 11399, 11404 and 11407 respectively, which made the findings required by AB
361 to allow the City Council and all City Boards, Commissions, and Task Forces to
continue to meet under AB 361’s abbreviated teleconferencing procedures, and
authorized the City Council and all City Boards, Commissions, and Task Forces are
authorized to conduct meetings under AB 361’s abbreviated teleconferencing
procedures, without complying with the requirements set forth in Government Code
DocuSign Envelope ID: DB5DADC4-D808-4EC0-83E0-A8F8A7F643E1
6
Section 54953(b)(3), subject to compliance with the requirements set forth in
Government Code Section 54953(e)(2); and
WHEREAS, in light of the continuing State and local declarations of emergency
resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the most recent Los Angeles County
Department of Public Health Order of the Health Officer, issued March 3, 2022, which
continues to recommend social distancing as one measure to reduce the spread of
COVID-19, and to protect the most vulnerable among us in indoor public settings , the
City Council desires to again make the findings required by AB 361 to allow the City
Council and all City Boards, Commissions, and Task Forces to continue to meet under
AB 361’s abbreviated teleconferencing procedures.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The City Council finds that the State and local declarations of
emergency resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic remain in place, and that the state of
emergency continues to directly impact the ability to meet safely in person.
SECTION 2. The City Council finds that local officials, namely, the Los Angeles
County Department of Public Health, has continued to recommend measures to promote
social distancing.
SECTION 3. The City Council finds that, as a result of the emergency resulting
from the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person meetings of the City Council, or City Boards,
Commissions, or Task Forces, would present imminent risks to the health and safety of
attendees, including in particular, members of the public attending such meetings.
DocuSign Envelope ID: DB5DADC4-D808-4EC0-83E0-A8F8A7F643E1
7
SECTION 4. As a result of the findings in Sections 1 through 3 above, the City
Council and all City Boards, Commissions, and Task Forces are authorized to conduct
meetings under AB 361’s abbreviated teleconferencing procedures, without complying
with the requirements set forth in Government Code Section 54953(b)(3), subject to
compliance with the requirements set forth in Government Code Section 54953(e)(2).
SECTION 5. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this
Resolution is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any court
of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining
portions of this Resolution. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed
this Resolution and each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase not
declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any portion of this Resolution
would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 6. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Resolution, and
thenceforth and thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
_________________________
SUSAN COLA
Interim City Attorney
DocuSign Envelope ID: DB5DADC4-D808-4EC0-83E0-A8F8A7F643E1
Adopted and approved this 12th day of April 2022.
__________________________
Sue Himmelrich, Mayor
I, Denise Anderson-Warren, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby
certify that Resolution No. 11413 (CCS) was duly adopted at a meeting of the Santa
Monica City Council held on the 12th day of April 2022, by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Brock, Davis, De la Torre, Parra,
Mayor Pro Tem McCowan, Mayor Himmelrich
NOES: None
ABSENT: Councilmember Negrete
ATTEST:
_____________________________________
Denise Anderson-Warren, City Clerk
DocuSign Envelope ID: DB5DADC4-D808-4EC0-83E0-A8F8A7F643E1