All Orange County residents will be able to speak to their city council members from home during public meetings starting next month.
It’s part of a new state law known as Senate Bill 707 that requires city councils in certain counties to create a two-way telephonic or audio-visual communication system for city council meetings.
That means city council members must give the public the opportunity to directly address them during public meetings, either over the phone or through another method like Zoom.
It’s also required for the Orange County Board of Supervisors.
It was once a pandemic-era experiment that many public agencies adopted after COVID-19 prevented groups from gathering for meetings.
While many cities have done away with remote public speakers at this point, the state legislature is forcing hundreds of California cities to bring it back to increase transparency and allow residents to have an easier time engaging with local city officials.
SB 707 only applies to city councils in cities with greater than 30,000 people or cities located in counties with more than 600,000 people.
All Orange County cities meet these parameters. The requirements sunset on Jan. 1, 2030.
[Read: OC Cities Continue Grappling With Call-in Public Comment]
While most cities implemented some kind of remote meeting policy during the height of the pandemic, some cities never ditched remote public comments through Zoom. Others are scrambling to bring it back before the deadline.
Some OC Cities Have Allowed Online Comments For Years
Some Orange County cities — Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Irvine, Santa Ana and Villa Park — never got rid of the practice and have allowed residents to give public comments via Zoom since the pandemic.
Those cities already have a two-way communication platform for city council meetings that complies with SB 707.
“When this legislation was being considered, we were surprised by how many cities had discontinued remote participation after the pandemic,” Costa Mesa City Clerk Brenda Green said during a council meeting in May.
“In contrast, we not only maintain Zoom access for city council meetings, but also continue to offer it for commission meetings, demonstrating that we have been ahead of the curve in this area.”
Fullerton’s city clerk, Lucinda Williams, made a similar point when that city discussed SB 707 earlier this month.
“We did not go away from our two-way participation for council since COVID,” Williams said. “Unlike some of these other agencies that never went there or have to go back — and have found out about it in the middle of a budget year with six months to implement — we are not in the boat.”
In Irvine, residents can make public comments via Zoom for city council meetings and all city commission and committee meetings, according to a city spokesperson.
Fountain Valley City Clerk Rick Miller said in a phone interview that the city has offered Zoom comments since 2020, and it’s been a smooth process with no major issues.
Villa Park, the smallest Orange County city by population with just about 6,000 residents, has permitted speakers to give comments via Zoom since the pandemic on a by-request basis, City Manager/City Clerk Steve Franks said during a phone interview.
While the city has offered the service for years, it will now be more formalized with instructions included with each agenda so that residents don’t need to request the service when they want to speak from home, Franks said.
Leaders Tasked By Sacramento To Add Remote Public Comments
Other cities were tasked with figuring out how they’re going to permit remote public comments, which will be required starting July 1.
In Anaheim, residents will be able to make comments using Zoom, but they must register online before 5 p.m., according to City Clerk Theresa Bass.
Despite being Orange County’s biggest city, Anaheim has never allowed for call-in public comment — even when a previous city council was finalizing the controversial Angel Stadium land sale during the pandemic, which fell apart after an FBI probe surfaced four years ago.
[Read: FBI Corruption Probe Into Anaheim Mayor Sidhu Stalls the Angel Stadium Sale]
Most cities will be using Zoom to allow residents to watch live from home and chime in during public comments, when residents who attend meetings in person usually have up to three minutes to speak directly to the council members on an issue.
SB 707 requires that remote speakers get the same amount of time to make their comments as speakers who attend in person.
Councilmembers across the county have praised the change, saying it promotes local engagement with government officials.
“I do think that having access remotely to council meetings is a benefit for those who are unable to make it,” Anaheim City Councilmember Natalie Rubalcava said at the council’s May meeting.
In Aliso Viejo, city leaders also praised the change, authored by State Senator María Elena Durazo and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October 2025.
“This pleases me to no end,” Councilmember Tiffany Ackley said at the council’s June 6 meeting. “I always have an issue when working parents or single parents can’t come to our meetings, or when anybody can’t come to our meetings, because of the timing. I’m very happy that we’re adopting this hopefully.”
Aliso Viejo Mayor Max Duncan said getting more input from more residents is a good thing.
“The more people we have paying attention to what’s going on down here in this room, the more informed our residents are,” he said.
Other leaders are criticizing the state mandate that could make council meetings longer.
SB 707 also requires city councils to pass a disruption policy if the two-way broadcast fails.
If city council broadcasts face technical difficulties that affect the public’s ability to participate, then council members must recess for at least one hour to try and restore the broadcast.
If leaders are unable to fix the issue after an hour, then officials must decide whether to adjourn the meeting or continue without the broadcast, which would require a vote from the council.
Leaders in Orange passed their technology disruption policy on June 9, but some officials were unhappy with the costs associated with the change, especially as the city grapples with budget deficits.
“So it’s an unfunded mandate by the state, and then they wonder why cities are going bankrupt,” Councilmember Kathy Tavoularis said at the meeting.
There aren’t any major costs associated with SB 707, but cities will be required to pay for the software and IT upgrades required to broadcast meetings and take remote speakers.
In Garden Grove, officials voted to allocate $75,500 from the general fund to upgrade technology and equipment in the council chambers to comply with SB 707.
During a meeting in May, Tustin City Council member John Nielsen said the state is giving more mandates to cities instead of focusing on issues that matter.
“It’s really interesting that the state legislature puts more and more onus on local government and don’t do things like solving issues such as poverty, homelessness, gas prices, etcetera,” Nielsen said about the bill. “They’d rather spend their time trying to regulate local government. This is another example.”
“I’ll go along with it, but I’m not overly happy with this.”
OC Leaders Grapple With ‘Zoom Bombing’
Many officials expressed concern about people giving inappropriate comments during their remote speaking time, also known as “Zoom bombing.”
It became an issue for some cities during the pandemic when people would join council meetings online and purposely give inflammatory or off-topic comments to prank or prompt a reaction from city leaders.
It’s especially difficult to monitor since online speakers don’t need to show their faces and can operate with a greater level of anonymity than speakers who attend in person.
Several city attorneys across the county made it clear that leaders are able to give online speakers a warning and eventually mute their microphones if they refuse to follow city council decorum policies during their public comment.
“Disruptions would be handled just like if they were to occur in the city council chambers,” La Habra City Attorney Keith Collins told the council during their meeting on June 1.
“If the conduct is substantially disruptive to the conduct of the meeting, they can receive one warning and be kicked out of the meeting — same as anybody that was here in person causing a disruption.”
Leaders in Laguna Woods had a robust discussion last month about how they’re going to implement remote public speakers in a city that has 83% residents aged 65 and older.
Laguna Woods leaders created a “Guide to Public Participation” that will be included with all city council agendas moving forward, which describes in-depth how to make a public comment in person, in writing or remotely through Zoom.
All OC Cities Offer Video For City Council Meeting Livestreams
For the first time ever, every single city in Orange County will offer a video livestream for city council meetings.
It comes after two cities have been holding out for years.
Rancho Santa Margarita and La Palma previously only offered an audio livestream for city council meetings, making it difficult for residents to follow along from home and causing confusion about who’s speaking.
Although SB 707 does not require a video livestream for city council meetings, officials in both cities voted to add that option for the first time in anticipation that it will be required in the future.
This story has been updated to include that the public comment call-in law also applies to the Orange County Board of Supervisors.
Angelina Hicks is the Voice of OC Collegiate News Service Editor. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.
