Portantino Bill Ensuring Neighborhood Councils Can Meet Online Passes Senate Floor
For Immediate Release: May 16, 2023
Contact: Lerna Shirinian, (818) 409-0400
Portantino Bill Ensuring Neighborhood Councils Can Meet Online Passes Senate Floor
Sacramento, California – Senate Bill 411, authored by Senator Anthony J. Portantino (D – Burbank), passed the Senate Floor. The bill ensures that neighborhood councils in the City of Los Angeles can continue serving their constituents by meeting online.
“Public participation is vital to vibrant discourse and is best served when more people participate in the process,” stated Senator Portantino. “Virtual meetings during the pandemic have increased public participation and improved the democratic process. It has also made it easier for folks with travel difficulties to participate and councils to have quorums, all very positive outcomes.”
During the pandemic, virtual public meetings via teleconference were allowed by Executive Order of the Governor to help neighborhood councils remain operational. While it was clear that online meetings attracted more public participation, it is also clear that ending them will have drastic negative consequences for public discourse. Considering that California is the tech leader in the nation and the world, it is appropriate to have laws in place that encourage governments to modernize and serve more people.
“Neighborhood Councils are a distinctive feature of civic life in Los Angeles, allowing robust participation in local government ,” said Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian. "SB 411 will ensure that Los Angeles’ 99 Neighborhood Councils will have the option to continue meeting virtually and provide our constituents with the greatest possible opportunity for public participation.”
“Citizen participation at a local level has exploded with the introduction of virtual options, where someone doesn’t have to sit in traffic or find child care to attend a meeting” said Michael Schneider, CEO of Streets For All. “We are excited about this legislation that would permit these more democratic meetings to continue in perpetuity, and we thank Senator Portantino for his leadership on this important issue.”
SB 411 will allow neighborhood councils in the City of Los Angeles to use teleconferencing as an alternative for in person meetings. The measure requires that the City Council approve the virtual meeting option before neighborhood councils can move forward and requires a two-thirds vote from each neighborhood council in order to make the meeting remote. The measure has a sunset date of 2027.
“This bill will promote democracy by allowing meeting participation choices,” stated Kevin Davis, President of the Foothill Trails District Neighborhood Council. “It will allow those with transportation, health or family care issues another participation option. Anyone with a cell phone will be able to participate in meetings anywhere in the world. Options are the keys to greater democratic participation. I fully support this bill.”
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