San Carlos eyes return to in-person council meetings

Like jurisdictions across the state, the San Carlos City Council has been meeting remotely rather than in person since late March 2020 due to COVID-19 safety concerns. Governing bodies were permitted to hold meetings virtually following Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signing of an executive order easing the Brown Act, state legislation that ensures public access to meetings.

But as counties have gained more control over the virus, state officials announced most restrictions implemented during the pandemic will be lifted by June 15, including its tiered reopening system. The reopening is contingent on the continued drop of COVID-related hospitalizations and increased community vaccinations.

San Carlos City Clerk Crystal Mui told councilmembers it’s still unclear how the state’s reopening plans will affect council meetings or Brown Act revisions but noted staff are working with a third-party vendor, Integrated Communications Systems, to create a hybrid meeting model.

“Our goal with reopening the council chambers is to have a safe physical location to conduct our public meetings while allowing the public the options to either attend in person or continue participating remotely,” Mui said.

All state or local guidelines will be followed at the meetings, Mui said, including social distancing protocol for councilmembers and meeting participants, temperature checks using touchless thermal scanners and mask wearing with extra masks available for those who may have forgotten theirs.

The city would also work to reduce high touch points. Instead of requiring in-person participants to fill out public comment forms, a different system could potentially be put in place, Mui said without elaborating.

Staff said six other Peninsula cities are considering a move to in-person meetings by late fall. Parmer-Lohan requested the council rehearse for the in-person meetings before the first official session on Aug. 23 if guidelines permit.

Councilmembers largely supported the hybrid approach. Parmer-Lohan noted community engagement has greatly increased during the pandemic and suggested maintaining remote access would continue the trend.

Vice Mayor Sara McDowell echoed Parmer-Lohan and noted the new hybrid system could allow more diverse voices to be present at meetings, also a trend during the pandemic, she said.

“It’s a great system to allow people to participate remotely from parents putting their children to bed, to those who are homebound to those who want to participate but it’s just too late,” McDowell said. “I really appreciate the work that’s going to go into figuring out our new system over the summer.”

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