Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 2022-C73RESOLUTION NO.2022-C73 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AZUSA, CALIFORNIA, RATIFYING THE PROCLAMATION OF A STATE OF EMERGENCY BY GOVERNOR NEWSOM (MARCH 4, 2020)9 AND AUTHORIZING REMOTE TELECONFERENCE MEETINGS OF THE LEGISLATIVE BODIES OF THE CITY OF AZUSA PURSUANT TO ASSEMBLY BILL 361 WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Azusa, is committed to preserving and nurturing public access and participation in meetings of the City's; and WHEREAS, all meetings of the City's legislative bodies, boards and commissions ("Legislative Bodies") are open and public, as required by the Ralph M. Brown Act ("Brown Act") (Gov. Code, § 54950 et. seq.), so that any member of the public may attend, participate, and watch the City's Legislative Bodies conduct their business; and WHEREAS, on September 16, 2021, the California legislature passed Assembly Bill ("AB") 361, which amended Government Code, section 54953; and WHEREAS, Government Code section 54953(e), makes provisions for remote teleconferencing participation in meetings by members of a legislative body, without compliance with the requirements of Government Code section 54953(b)(3), subject to the existence of certain conditions; and WHEREAS, a required condition is that a state of emergency is declared by the Governor pursuant to Government Code section 8625, proclaiming the existence of conditions of disaster or of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within the state caused by conditions as described in Government Code section 8558; and WHEREAS, a proclamation is made when there is an actual incident, threat of disaster, or extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within the jurisdictions that are within the City's boundaries, caused by natural, technological, or human -caused disasters; and WHEREAS, it is further required that state or local officials have imposed or recommended measures to promote social distancing, or, the legislative body meeting in person would present imminent risks to the health and safety of attendees; and WHEREAS, such conditions now exist in the City of Azusa, specifically, Governor Newsom declared a State of Emergency on March 4, 2020 as a result of the threat of COVID-19 and such proclamation remains in effect and has not been rescinded or cancelled; and WHEREAS, Cal-OSHA's Emergency Temporary Standards has taken measures to promote social distancing, including, (i) requiring employers to provide training as to "the fact that particles containing the virus can travel more than six feet, especially indoors, so physical distancing, face coverings, increased ventilation indoors, and respiratory protection decrease the spread of COVID-19," (ii) requiring employees when eating or drinking to be "at least six feet apart," and (iii) requiring certain employees without face coverings to "be at least six feet apart from all other persons unless the unmasked employee is either fully vaccinated or tested at least weekly for COVID-19;" and WHEREAS, on January 5, 2022 the California Department of Public Health ordered the use of face coverings by all employees when indoors; and WHEREAS, the State of California continues in a State of Emergency in order to minimize the threat of COVID-19 and encouraging the use of mask because many people who test positive for COVID-19 have no symptoms and could be spreading the virus to others without knowing it; and WHEREAS, the County of Los Angeles has seen a surge of COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant, 1,601 cases were reported on September 14, 2022, bringing the total cases reported to 3,431,991; and WHEREAS, the City of Azusa has a total of 16,298 cases and 161 reported deaths as of September 14, 2022; and WHEREAS, the City Council does hereby find that fully meeting in person for the City's Legislative Bodies would present imminent risks to the health and safety of attendees and the community spread COVID-19 has caused, and will continue to cause, conditions of peril to the safety of persons within the City of Azusa that are likely to be beyond the control of services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of the City, and desires to ratify the proclamation of state of emergency by the Governor of the State of California (March 4, 2020); and WHEREAS, as a consequence of the local emergency, the City Council does hereby find that the Legislative Bodies of the City of Azusa shall conduct their meetings without compliance with paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of Government Code section 54953, as authorized by subdivision (e) of section 54953, and that such legislative bodies shall comply with the requirements to provide the public with access to the meetings as prescribed in paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) of section 54953; and WHEREAS, the City will provide live call -in and/or internet service -based option for remote public participation and will provide notice for such participation in the agendas posted in advance of these meetings; and WHEREAS, the City of Azusa also allows for members of the public to address the Legislative Bodies via live call -in and/or internet service -based option for remote public participation or written communication taken until the end of the public hearing period closes. NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AZUSA, CALIFORNIA, DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Recitals. The Recitals set forth above are true and correct and are incorporated into this Resolution by this reference. SECTION 2. Ratification of Governor's Proclamation of a State of Emergency. The City Council hereby ratifies the Governor of the State of California's Proclamation of State of Emergency, effective as of its issuance date of March 4, 2021. SECTION 3. Remote Teleconference Meetings. The Azusa City Council, Utility Board, Planning Commission, Art in Public Places Commission, Cultural & Historic Preservation Commission, Library Commission, Park & Recreation Commission, and Personnel Board ("Legislative Bodies") are hereby authorized and directed to take all actions necessary to carry out the intent and purpose of this Resolution including, conducting open and public meetings in accordance with Government Code section 54953(e) and other applicable provisions of the Brown Act. The actions taken by the City Council through this resolution shall be applied to all City committees governed by the Brown Act unless otherwise desired by that committee. SECTION 4. City Manager Authorization. The City Council authorizes the City Manager or their designee(s) to continue to take all actions necessary to conduct Legislative Body meetings in accordance with this Resolution, using teleconferencing for a period of thirty (30) days from the adoption of this Resolution after which the City Council will again reconsider the circumstances of the state of emergency. SECTION 5. The City Clerk shall attest and certify to the passage and adoption of this Resolution and enter it into the book of original resolutions, and it shall become effective immediately upon its approval. PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 19`" day of September, 2022. Robe-5-Gor6les Mayor ATTEST: Je a n e- C-ornej o, it Cle d'I-1 ` 02OI }I 700 Isa `Isag :WHOA 01 SV QHAOHddV If `o fau�oD a .inn a ar RMOM :SN'9SWHW IIDNf1OD :.Lm3SSd RMOM :SNaEl iaWlIDNf1OD :SSON H.LIAk')IDSS `ZSQNSW `V'IIAV `ZUVA'IV `SS'IVZtgOJ :SlISSWHW IIDNf1OD :SaAv :jiaunoD QqI JO QJOA 2utnnoIJOJ auj Xq `ZZOZ .iaquualdaS Io XPp ,4,6 j aqj uo piau Xauagd pins Io Suilaatu .mInOw -e ju `jiaunoD XI!D aul Xq paldopt Xjnp suns £LD-ZZOZ -olq uoplosa-d 2uiogaaol aiil VOT AA1JLH9D Alfa aH I C Vsflz`v' 30 ADD •ss { SS'iSJI V SOZ 3O A.LNf1OD C vim-aOailvD 3O 31VIS