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Bakersfield amends council policy to implement SB77 remote‑participation rules
Summary
Council approved changes to meeting procedure to implement SB77 Brown Act requirements: consolidated public statements at start of meetings, equal split of comment time between in‑person and remote participants, and a scheduled rollout of remote tech by July 1, 2026.
The council unanimously approved amendments to its meeting policy to comply with recent Brown Act changes enacted by SB77, which require two‑way remote public participation with the same time allotments as in‑person speakers.
Deputy City Attorney Ashley Sbrano told the council that staff drafted a limited set of changes intended to preserve the familiar meeting flow while meeting the statute: all non‑agenda and agenda public statements will be heard at the start of regular meetings (both the 3:30 and 5:15 sessions), and total speaker time will be split equally between in‑person and remote participants (for example a 20‑minute total allotment becomes 10 minutes in‑person and 10 minutes remote). Public hearings will retain instructions and party time limits but the city will divide allotted time per side between in‑person and remote speakers (staff proposed 20 minutes per side and 10 minutes per side rebuttal, split equally).
The council adopted the policy amendment and directed staff to implement required technology to enable two‑way audio participation. Sbrano said staff aims to test the system in May and June and to be fully compliant by the SB77 statutory deadline of July 1, 2026. The policy has a planned April 1 effective date for the procedural changes unrelated to remote tech, with the remote audio capability ‘‘turned on’’ once the technical implementation is complete by July 1.
Council members asked for clarity on whether unused remote time can be reassigned to in‑person speakers; Sbrano said the mayor retains discretion to adjust timing as necessary to manage the meeting. The motion to amend policy passed with Council Member Weir absent.
The amendment is procedural in nature; staff said additional operational details (agenda software changes and testing schedule) will be implemented before the city enables the remote audio platform.
