California § 54953.8.4 - An eligible neighborhood council may conduct a teleconference meeting pursuant to

§ 54953.8.4. An eligible neighborhood council may conduct a teleconference meeting pursuant to

(a) An eligible neighborhood council may conduct a teleconference meeting pursuant to Section 54953.8, provided that it complies with the requirements of that section and all of the following have occurred: (1) (A) The city council for a city described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) considers whether to adopt a resolution to authorize eligible neighborhood councils to use teleconferencing as described in this section at an open and regular meeting. (B) If the city council adopts a resolution described in subparagraph (A), an eligible neighborhood council may elect to use teleconferencing pursuant to this section if a majority of the eligible neighborhood council votes to do so. The eligible neighborhood council shall notify the city council if it elects to use teleconferencing pursuant to this section and its justification for doing so. (C) Upon receiving notification from an eligible neighborhood council described in subparagraph (B), the city council may adopt a resolution to prohibit the eligible neighborhood council from using teleconferencing pursuant to this section. (2) After completing the requirements of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1), an eligible neighborhood council that holds a meeting pursuant to this subdivision shall do all of the following: (A) At least a quorum of the members of the eligible neighborhood council shall participate from locations within the boundaries of the city in which the eligible neighborhood council is established. (B) At least once per year, at least a quorum of the members of the eligible neighborhood council shall participate in person from a singular physical location that is open to the public and within the boundaries of the eligible neighborhood council. (3) If the meeting is during regular business hours of the offices of the city council member that represents the area that includes the eligible neighborhood council, the eligible neighborhood council shall provide a publicly accessible physical location from which the public may attend or comment, which shall be the offices of the city council member who represents the area where the eligible neighborhood council is located, unless the eligible neighborhood council identifies an alternative location. (4) If the meeting is outside regular business hours, the eligible neighborhood council shall make reasonable efforts to accommodate any member of the public that requests an accommodation to participate in the meeting. (b) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply: (1) “Accommodation” means providing a publicly accessible physical location for the member of the public to participate from, providing access to technology necessary to participate in the meeting, or identifying locations or resources available that could provide the member of the public with an opportunity to participate in the meeting. (2) “Eligible neighborhood council” means a neighborhood council that is an advisory body with the purpose to promote more citizen participation in government and make government more responsive to local needs that is established pursuant to the charter of a city with a population of more than 3,000,000 people that is subject to this chapter. (c) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2030, and as of that date is repealed.