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UPDATED Guidance on Remote Public Participation in Public Meetings On March 12, 2020, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-25-20 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Executive Order authorized a wide variety of actions to protect the health and safety of California residents. One such action allowed state bodies covered by the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Act) to hold public meetings covered by the Act via web conferencing or audio conferencing. This original Order—which, as explained below, has been superseded—still required meeting organizers to have at least one publicly accessible physical location from which members of the public would have the right to attend and observe the meeting and offer public comment. Due to the evolving nature of the emergency and the need to further combat the spread of COVID-19, on March 18, 2020, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-29-20. This Order supersedes the provisions in Executive Order N-25-20 pertaining to the Bagley-Keene Act and expands state bodies’ ability to hold meetings entirely via remote-meeting technology. Subject to additional notice and accessibility requirements described in the new Order (and summarized in the next paragraph of this Guidance), if a state body holds a meeting via remote-meeting technology, and makes it possible for members of the public to observe and address the meeting remotely (for example, via web or audio conferencing), then the state body is not required to provide a physical location in connection with the meeting.State bodies must continue to adhere to the Bagley-Keene Act’s ordinary requirements for publicizing meeting times and posting meeting agendas. Additionally, each time the meeting time or agenda is noticed, the state body must also publicize two other things. First, the state body must publicize the means by which members of the public may observe and address the meeting. (As discussed in this Guidance, this might be remote-meeting technology; it could even be as simple as the combination of a streaming video link and a phone line made available for public comment.) Second, the state body must publicize its process for receiving and swiftly resolving requests for reasonable modification or accommodation for individuals with disabilities.A range of proven teleconferencing and digital engagement tools already are available through existing procurement platforms at the California Department of General Services and the California Department of Technology’s California Network and Telecommunications Program (CALNET). What follows is updated guidance to state agencies on choosing the right method, best practices for running virtual meetings, a sample set of tools to choose from, and contacts to reach out to for questions and comments. This is not a legal interpretation or guidance on the Bagley-Keene Act. Please consult with your legal counsel for any questions regarding the Act. What is the right technology for my virtual meeting? If you simply need to share information without receiving feedback or viewing presentations, conference calling is a good solution.If you need to make presentations, hold discussions in public view, and/or allow participants to ask questions and make comments, a video conferencing tool is a good solution.Some departments use a combination of live streaming via social media (e.g. YouTube, Twitter or Facebook) and a phone conference line that allows listeners to hear a meeting and be put into a queue if they want to make a comment or ask a question.Best practices and considerations for running a virtual meetingPick the right technologyUnderstand the licensing restrictions, particularly on the number of attendees.Ideally, the public should not have to download an application to participate. If software is necessary, ensure that it is free for the public to use and otherwise easily available and accessible to members of the public.Always offer a phone dial-in. Most video conferencing tools provide dial-in numbers so attendees can choose to participate by video or phone.For web conferencing, you should verify if members participating remotely have webcams and microphones, and if not, you may need to provide them for members who will be participating remotely.A sample of providers is provided below.Prepare & testMake sure staff has downloaded and installed software and configured members’ devices ahead of time.Run a test with staff and all members. Give public notice that includes full details on how to participate remotely, including instructions for downloading software and a call-in number.Make sure your tool allows the meeting administrator to mute public participants.Publish agendas and key materials ahead of timeFollow the Bagley-Keene Act’s advance notice requirements for the time of each public meeting, and post the agenda for each meeting according to the ordinary requirements of Bagley-Keene. When you notice the meeting time or post the meeting agenda, remember to include the required information about how the public may participate remotely in the meeting, as well as the required information about accessibility.For meetings noticed prior to EO N-29-20, you may add this information after the fact, as long as you post the updated information on the state body’s website and otherwise use “the most rapid means of communication available at the time” to publicize the change.If this information changes later, you may update it the same way: publicize the change using “the most rapid means of communication available,” which must include posting on the state body’s website.Review Executive Order N-29-20 to ensure you understand its accessibility requirements, and otherwise follow state accessibility guidelines. Whenever possible, for longer meetings you should add estimated times and speakers to agendas so that members of the public can join for only the sections that are relevant to them.Provide opportunities for feedback before, during and after the meeting For general questions, provide an option for the public to submit questions or comments. Consider an email inbox, web form, phone comment queue or other methods to allow people to submit questions or comments ahead of time and as follow-ups.Structure the meeting for valuable participationCreate and communicate the process for unmuting and asking questions or commenting.Create a queue to manage questions and comments by asking people to raise their hand or submit their question or comment, via messaging, the moderator, or a telephone queuing system.Have one person responsible for managing the queue of questions and comments.Make sure the host knows how to mute all other participants. At the same time, provide instructions on how to unmute when others need to participate. Ensure accessibility Offer multiple means of access to address the needs of various audiences wherever possible. Ensure that the tool or combination of tools you use is sufficient to make the meeting accessible to everyone.Use tools such as automatic transcriptions, captioning or real-time text to accompany audio. Consider allowing public comment via e-mail (which should be read aloud at the meeting to ensure parity with other public comment) to accommodate hearing- or speech-impaired individuals.Ensure you have established a process to receive and swiftly resolve individual requests for reasonable modifications or accommodations to ensure accessibility. This process should be as user-friendly and accessible as possible. ToolsThe list below represents a sample of what is available across the state and includes options to access meetings online, and by phone. Note: check in with your IT systems administrator or IT support to determine how best to enable various features. WebExWhere to Access: CALNETFor hosts: There are four plans available including a free version, which is not recommended due to the limits on participation and meeting length. Priced plans offer larger participation limits and longer (or unlimited) meeting duration times. More information can be found here. For participants: Participants can join in a variety of ways -- through an email invite, or by clicking on a meeting link through their desktop or mobile application. Participants do not need an account to access a meeting. Accessibility: WebEx offers keyboard navigation, low vision support, and screen reader support. WebEx also offers the ability to create automatic transcripts. Capturing Comments & Questions: Meetings set through WebEx come with an automatic chat function (though hosts will need to set user privileges) to take comments and questions. Also available through CALNET as an option: AT&T Conferencing and NWN.ZoomWhere to Access: DGS Software Licensing Program For hosts: There are four plans available including a free version, which is not recommended due to the limits on participation and meeting length. Priced plans offer larger participation limits and longer (or unlimited) meeting duration times. More information can be found here. For participants: Participants do not need to have a Zoom account to attend a Zoom meeting. A first time user will be prompted to download the software and can do so by clicking on a meeting link, or by heading to the Download Center. Accessibility: Zoom has four key accessibility features: closed captioning, keyboard accessibility, automatic transcripts, and screen reader support. More information can be found here. Each meeting room also comes with a dial-in number, which can be provided to those without reliable internet access. Capturing Comments & Questions: There is a chat function at the bottom of the screen that allows any participant to comment or ask questions. You can save in meeting chat content by following these instructions. Skype Meeting Broadcast Where to Access: Through the Microsoft Office 365 bundle; may have to ask your system administrator to push it out.For hosts: Enables you to schedule, produce and broadcast meetings or events to online audiences of up to 10,000 attendees. Scheduling instructions are linked here.For participants: Participants do not need a Skype for Business account to attend a meeting, however members of the public will need to download the software plug-in to participate. Instructions for those steps are linked here. Accessibility: Skype offers screen reader support, closed captioning, and real-time transcription and translation features. For those with less reliable internet access, follow instructions on how to add a dial in number. Capturing Comments & Questions: To enable questions and comments, add a Q&A section that will display during the meeting. Microsoft is transitioning Skype users to Microsoft Teams, which also is part of Office 365, although departments are just learning about Teams’ webcasting functionality.Teleconferencing Teleconferencing can be an important supplement to web conferencing. To add teleconferencing services, call the provider your organization has chosen from the CALNET options and purchase additional services using Form 20. One service that offers a broad range of features is AT&T Teleconferencing, which can be offered as audio through web browsers, and features scheduling, comment queueing, moderated question and answer session. It also allows voting and polling. Different service levels include translation, question queueing and transcripts. Other Video Tools Available Through CALNETThe following services also are available through CALNET. These services typically are used for point-to-point virtual conferencing, and may not provide all of the features necessary for conducting a public meeting.Jive Multipoint Video Conferencing Bridge ServiceMultipoint Video Conference Bridge for 6-80 participants. Allows 6-80 participants to join and communicate via both video and audio on the same conference call.Verizon Managed Video Conferencing ServiceManaged Video Conferencing provides Video Conference session support with assistance of a live Conferencing Attendant.Verizon Open Video Communication ServiceOVC is multi-party video conferencing with a variety of usage levels suitable for individual devices to multi-screen telepresence rooms with document sharing.Key ContactsCalifornia Department of TechnologyEllen Ishimoto, PMP, Acting State Chief Technology OfficerCalifornia Department of Technology916.228.6512 Ellen.Ishimoto@state.Kami Dudley, Program ChiefCALNETCalifornia Department of Technology, Office of Technology Services(916) 228-6468 Kami.Dudley@state.Tiffany AnguloBranch Chief Telecommunications Procurement1-916-431-5483 Tiffany.Angulo@state.California Network and Telecommunications Program (CALNET)CALNET Customer Service Line: (916) 657-9150General CALNET Questions: CALNEThelp@state.California Department of General Services Patrick MullenManager, Multiple Award Programs Section916-375-4617Patrick.Mullen@dgs.Kimberly HettrickManager, Software Licensing Program 916-375-4725Kimberley.Hettrick@dgs. ................
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