Hawaiian Gardens adopts policy to handle Zoom outages and meet new state remote‑meeting rules

The Hawaiian Gardens City Council on May 26 unanimously adopted Resolution No. 007‑2026, a city policy that sets procedures for handling telephonic or internet disruptions during public meetings. The measure was presented by city staff as necessary to comply with recently enacted state law and Brown Act requirements.

Staff said the law (identified in the meeting as "Senate Bill 707") requires legislative bodies to have a technology disruption policy in place by July 1. Under the adopted policy, if remote access is lost the council will recess for at least one hour or until service is restored, whichever comes first. If service cannot be restored after one hour, the council may (by roll‑call vote) find that continuing in person is in the public interest, adjourn the meeting, or extend the recess to allow staff more time to restore remote access.

The policy also addresses intentional platform disruptions. After a verbal warning from the mayor or clerk, a disruptive remote participant may be muted or removed from the meeting. Staff framed the policy as a compliance and continuity measure that also balances the council’s obligation to provide remote participation options with the need to maintain order during hybrid meetings.

Mayor Promroa and all council members present voted yes on the motion to adopt the resolution. The council’s recorded roll call vote was unanimous, and the resolution passed during the meeting’s discussion items.

The council’s action updates local procedure to align with the state’s remote‑meeting requirements and provides staff and the council a clear protocol to follow if technological interruptions recur. No additional implementation timeline beyond the effective adoption was specified at the meeting.