Union City and Fremont approved a meeting disruption policy that encourages remote participation in public meetings. Senate Bill 707 says that cities must have remote access and allow online public comments in open public city meetings by July 1, 2026.
The policy for both cities state that if online streaming to a meeting loses connection, the city has to make “good faith efforts” to restore internet service for at least an hour before deciding to adjourn or continue the meeting.
Fremont said their “good faith efforts” to restore internet service include troubleshooting, resetting or replacing equipment, using alternative connections or contacting support staff and internet providers. Fremont added in-person meeting disruptions to their policy, where if not solved, the person who interrupted the meeting can be removed from council chambers.
Union City also updated the council on meeting accessibility efforts, including the installation of a bulletin board for residents to translate meeting agendas.
Wordly AI will soon be available during Union City meetings for residents who need language translations during city meetings. A QR code would be available for residents to scan in order to receive live translations from the app. Councilmember Jeff Wang said there should be a survey later on that assesses how often Wordly AI is being used and what languages.
