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Brisbane council adopts policy for teleconference outages; requires one-hour recess and findings to continue
Summary
Brisbane adopted a resolution establishing procedures to recess and reconvene meetings when telephonic or audiovisual service is disrupted, requiring staff to attempt good-faith restoration and the legislative body to make a roll-call finding to continue after one hour.
Brisbane City Council on Feb. 19 adopted a resolution setting procedures the city and its commissions will follow if telephonic or audiovisual service is disrupted during a meeting.
Staff told the council the policy implements requirements of the Brown Act and describes the good-faith efforts staff must make to restore service, including providing alternative ways for the public to attend and posting notices. The resolution sets a minimum recess period of one hour for an outage; after one hour the legislative body may choose to continue the meeting only after adopting a roll-call finding that good-faith efforts were made to restore the service and that the public interest in continuing the meeting outweighs continued remote access.
Council members asked staff to avoid vendor-specific language in the exhibit and to replace brand references with generic phrasing such as "Zoom and similar providers." City Attorney Tom noted the substantive change in practice is the one-hour recess (many cities previously used shorter pauses) and said liability risk for failing to follow the precise exhibit steps is very small in practice.
The council approved the resolution with language adjustments by voice vote. The policy applies to city council meetings and the city's commissions and committees going forward.
