Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Brown Act topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
SB 707 changes Brown Act teleconferencing rules; Santa Barbara LAFCO votes to bring back adoption resolution
Summary
Deputy County Counsel Johanna Hartley summarized SB 707 updates to the Brown Act, including five teleconferencing options and new translation and social‑media rules; the commission directed staff to return with a resolution to authorize the eligible multi‑jurisdictional teleconferencing option and voted unanimously.
Deputy County Counsel Johanna Hartley briefed Santa Barbara LAFCO on SB 707 on Jan. 8, explaining how the Brown Act has been amended to address teleconferencing, translation and social‑media use by public bodies.
Hartley outlined five teleconferencing options now on the Brown Act table: traditional teleconferencing (posting remote locations and roll‑call voting), emergency teleconferencing for proclaimed emergencies, reasonable‑accommodation teleconferencing for commissioners with disabilities, a “just cause” exception for specific personal reasons, and a new eligible multi‑jurisdictional‑body option that LAFCO may adopt by resolution.
Hartley said LAFCO itself does not meet the definition of an “eligible legislative body” for the statute’s most onerous requirements, but explained that LAFCO may adopt the multi‑jurisdictional teleconferencing option (available until Jan. 1, 2030) if it passes a resolution in open session. She also summarized related requirements: remote commissioners must use audio‑visual technology, disclose adults present at remote locations, votes must be by roll call under some options, and commissioners using the multi‑jurisdictional option would not count toward compensation or the quorum and would be limited to two uses per year.
On social media rules, Hartley said SB 707 maintains a prohibition on a quorum of the body deliberating via social platforms and tightens limits on individual interactions about matters under LAFCO’s jurisdiction.
Commissioners voted unanimously to direct staff to prepare and return with a resolution authorizing the eligible multi‑jurisdictional teleconferencing option for future consideration.
Hartley also provided physical copies of the Brown Act for commissioners and offered to return with a draft resolution and further implementation details.
