Seal Beach City Council will continue to conduct its meetings virtually to protect the health and safety of attendees in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Editors’ Note: This dispatch is part of the Voice of OC Youth Media program, working with student journalists to cover public policy issues across Orange County. If you would like to submit your own student media project related to Orange County civics or if you have any response to this work, contact Digital Editor Sonya Quick at squick@voiceofoc.org.
Due to the pandemic, states of emergencies at both the state and countywide levels in California remain in effect, according to a city staff report (click the hyperlink to download the council agenda). The Seal Beach City Council voted unanimously late last month to continue to hold public meetings virtually to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The meetings will continue to be streamed in real time via teleconference for the public to be able to participate live.
“At the moment, given the current situation, although it’s improving, the city manager still recommends that the council consider meeting in this virtual setting with an eye toward coming back to an in-person setting as soon as it is safe to do so,” City Attorney Craig Steele said during the council meeting.
Other cities in Orange County such as Huntington Beach and Laguna Beach have also been voting on whether to continue virtual meetings or to resume in-person meetings, according to city staff reports. Cities including Westminster and Costa Mesa are continuing to evaluate and hold meetings virtually.
However, some cities in the county have begun moving back to in-person, as well as hybrid formats for their meetings, including Laguna Beach, Santa Ana, Los Alamitos, Dana Point, and Irvine. Cities that allow limited in-person attendance also continue to offer teleconference options for residents who prefer to attend the meetings virtually.
According to the city staff report, throughout the pandemic, the Seal Beach City Council has been meeting remotely. Up until Sept. 30, remote council meetings were permitted in the state of California under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order that eased the rules of the Brown Act, the state’s open meetings law. Before the governor’s executive order expired, the state Legislature passed Assembly Bill 361, which became effective Oct. 1 and “continues to permit remote meetings during the proclaimed local emergency, if social distancing measures are required or recommended,” according to the city staff report.
The law requires the Seal Beach City Council — indeed all cities — to review the requirements every 30 days to determine whether in-person meetings would present imminent risks to the health and safety of the general public and the city staff, and consequently how meetings should be conducted to best accommodate the current conditions of the pandemic, as explained in the city staff report.
According to data collected from OCgov.com, transmission of the virus remains present across the county. Cal OSHA and other state authorities recommend that businesses and other entities in the state continue to practice social distancing, mask mandates, and other prevention methods against the spread of COVID-19.
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Seal Beach City Council Meetings Will Remain Virtual Amid Pandemic - VoiceofOC
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