Report to Carson Reclamation Authority
Tuesday, January 03, 2023
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER RESOLUTION NO. 23-01-CRJPA MAKING FINDINGS RELATED TO THE CONTINUED EXISTENCE OF A STATE OF EMERGENCY DUE TO COVID-19 AND RE-AUTHORIZING THE PUBLIC MEETINGS OF THE LEGISLATIVE BODIES OF THE CARSON RECLAMATION JOINT POWERS AUTHORITY TO BE CONDUCTED VIA REMOTE TELECONFERENCING IN ACCORDANCE WITH GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54953(E) FOR A CONTINUED 30-DAY PERIOD (JANUARY 4, 2023 THROUGH FEBRUARY 2, 2023)
Body
I. SUMMARY
A number of laws have changed, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, related to the Brown Act and teleconferenced public meetings, first from Governor Newsom's Executive Orders and more recently from the enactment of AB 361, which took effect October 1, 2021 upon expiration of the Executive Orders. The CRA, as all public agencies in California, must now modify certain elements of remote public meetings. The major change is that the public must now be allowed to make comments live during the public comment period, either live (in person, if allowed), telephonically, or otherwise electronically (such as by Zoom).
AB 361 allows local government agencies to continue to hold remote teleconferenced meetings following expiration of the Executive Orders by complying with the alternative noticing and public participation requirements laid out in AB 361 (and codified in Gov't Code Section 54953(e)), instead of the traditional Brown Act requirements on teleconferencing under Gov't Code Section 54953(b)(3), provided certain conditions are met related to the state of emergency.
Additionally, all public agencies, if they want to continue to conduct public meeting remotely, must adopt a resolution every 30 days making the findings of necessity to do so and affirming the measures in place to allow remote public comments by the public.
In December 2022, the Board readopted the original resolution declaring the emergency, and not the continuation resolution, ...
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