Gardena council’s remote-meeting outage policy is now operative
Gardena’s formal process for handling a phone or internet outage during a City Council meeting is now operative. The policy requires the city to announce a disruption that prevents remote public access, make good-faith efforts to restore service and keep the open session recessed for at least one hour from the disruption or until service is restored, whichever comes first.
The City Council adopted Resolution 6742 on June 23, 2026. The resolution took effect immediately, while the attached policy became operative July 1, 2026, under the framework established by California Senate Bill 707.
What happens when remote access fails
The policy applies to Gardena City Council open and public meetings when remote public participation is offered or required under the Brown Act. It does not apply to City Council-appointed boards and commissions.
If a disruption prevents members of the public from attending or observing the meeting through the city’s two-way telephone or audiovisual platform, the presiding officer or City Clerk must immediately announce it. The presiding officer may recess the open session, and city staff must begin efforts to diagnose and restore service.
The listed restoration steps include troubleshooting the meeting platform or teleconferencing software, resetting or replacing audiovisual equipment, trying another connection method, contacting support staff or service providers, and switching to backup equipment or platforms when available. The Assistant City Clerk must document the restoration efforts.
The open session must remain recessed for at least one hour from the time of the disruption or until remote service is restored, whichever occurs earlier. The recess may last longer if restoration efforts are continuing.
What the council can do after one hour
If service is restored before or when the meeting reconvenes, the meeting continues normally.
If service remains unavailable after one hour, the council may adjourn the meeting or continue in open session. Continuation requires a roll-call finding that staff made good-faith efforts to restore service and that the public interest in continuing the meeting outweighs the public interest in remote access.
The policy does not guarantee uninterrupted online or telephone participation, and it does not require the council to continue every meeting after an outage.
What Gardena residents should check
For each City Council meeting covered by the policy, the agenda must identify available remote-access options, explain how to access the meeting and provide public comment, and include contact information for reporting technical difficulties during the meeting.
Residents who plan to attend remotely should review those details before the meeting rather than assume every agenda will use identical instructions. If an outage occurs, the city’s minutes should record the nature and time of the disruption, the restoration efforts undertaken, when the meeting reconvened and any roll-call finding used to continue the meeting.
Resolution 6742 creates a documented process for balancing meeting continuity with public access when technology fails. It is an adopted operating policy, not a report that a Gardena council meeting has already experienced such a disruption.
Sources
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