Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Michael P. Callagy, County Executive
Subject: Resolution Authorizing Online Meetings for Advisory Committees
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution finding that remote member attendance at meetings of eligible subsidiary bodies established by the Board of Supervisors would enhance public access and promote the attraction, retention, and diversity of members of advisory commissions and authorizing fully online meetings for eligible subsidiary bodies.
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BACKGROUND:
The Board of Supervisors has established a number of advisory commissions, boards, and committees whose special expertise and focused attention on their respective subject matters have greatly enhanced the decision making of County agencies, including the Board of Supervisors itself.
These boards and commissions are almost without exception subject to the Ralph M. Brown Act, requiring public meetings and regulating the manner in which members may, on occasion, participate remotely.
The members of these advisory commissions are overwhelmingly volunteers who generously commit their time. The legal requirement that the members physically travel from across the County to attend in-person meetings and the tight restrictions placed on allowing telephonic participation or two-way audio-visual platform participation has, on occasion, resulted in the inability to conduct meetings with the full complement of members, thereby limiting the participation of the membership and denying the public the opportunity to address all of the members at meetings. The County has lost several volunteer members who found the requirements too onerous to continue their positions. The feedback received is that these members might have been able to participate more fully and for longer terms if there had been more flexibility in the ability to participate in meetings from their homes. Unfortunately, how...
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