05 - May 29, 2025 Hybrid Commission and Committee Meetings Recommendation Update and Comparative Analysis of Current and Proposed Support Models
CITY COUNCIL INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM
Date: May 29, 2025
To: Cupertino City Council
From: Tina Kapoor, Acting City Manager
Re: Hybrid Commission & Committee Meetings Recommendation Update and
Comparison of the Current and Proposed Models for Supporting Hybrid Meetings
Background
The City is committed to increasing accessibility and transparency in public meetings, and
staff is fully supportive of expanding the hybrid meeting model to all Commissions and
Committees. However, doing so requires additional staffing, training, and technical
resources to ensure consistent implementation and legal compliance—especially under
the Brown Act.
While livestreaming has served as an effective interim solution, moving to a full hybrid
format introduces greater complexity. Ensuring high-quality, reliable broadcasts and
smooth facilitation of public comment—both in-person and remote—requires
coordinated effort. Staff are ready to support this shift and have identified the resources
needed to successfully implement a sustainable hybrid model across all Commissions and
Committees.
Recommendation
To ensure effective hybrid Commission and Committee meetings and support the
associated increase in administrative and operational needs, staff recommends adding a
full-time Administrative Assistant position. This role would provide necessary support to
ensure consistency, standardization, and compliance with Brown Act protocols—areas
currently challenged by the varying familiarity and capacity of existing liaison staff.
Structure and Cost Comparison Between Current and Proposed Staffing Models
Current Staffing Model:
Across departments, administrative assistants—and in some cases, management
analysts—currently spend an average of 5% of their time supporting Commission and
Committee-related tasks. With 14 active bodies, this equates to roughly 70% of a full-time
position. To accommodate evening meetings, these employees accrue overtime or adjust
their schedules, which can impact overall department operations. The shift to a hybrid
meeting format may lead to continued or increased overtime costs for departmental
administrative staff. The Clerk’s Office also incurs overtime to manage the growing
logistical demands of existing Commissions and Committees. This burden will increase
with the addition of the Economic Development Committee, Legislative Review
Committee (LRC), Disaster Council, and the added complexity of supporting a dynamic
hybrid meeting model.
Meeting coordination involves a wide range of responsibilities: preparation and review,
packet distribution, scheduling, attendance tracking, transcription, minutes creation and
publication (including agendas, cancellations, and affidavits), onboarding/offboarding,
recruitments, commissioner training tracking, staff training, compliance checks, and
issuing attendance warnings. The recent addition of livestreaming further compounds
this workload. Staff are stretched thin, resulting in burnout, inconsistent practices, and
repeated re-training. These operational cracks highlight the urgent need for dedicated,
centralized support—precisely what this position is designed to provide.
Challenges of the Current Staffing Model for Hybrid Commissions and Committees:
Training and Standardization Are Not Currently Covered
The Clerk’s Office is not resourced to facilitate ongoing training for commission staff and
liaisons, especially not with a focus on hybrid meeting practices. Yet such training is
essential to ensure all Commissions and Committees follow consistent procedures around
public comment, quorum maintenance, and meeting structure. Without centralized
coordination, the risk of procedural noncompliance increases. This position will take
ownership of that training and continuity of efforts, something currently missing from
our organizational structure.
Hybrid Meetings Require Procedural, Not Just Technical, Support
While I&T provides the technical infrastructure, connectivity, and troubleshooting for
hybrid meetings, the real-time facilitation—such as managing public comment queues,
enforcing meeting procedures in dual formats, and training staff and commissioners on
hybrid-specific protocols—falls outside I&T’s scope and squarely within administrative
operations. This support is not currently being provided at scale, and the expectation that
existing Clerk or liaison staff can absorb this added burden without degradation in service
has proven unsustainable.
Current Decentralized Staffing Model:
Approximately $146,710 (or 100% of a full-time Administrative Assistant salary). This
estimate reflects the combined cost of the current staffing approach, which includes the
cumulative 5% of administrative time per department spent supporting Commission and
Committee meetings, hybrid meeting-related potential overtime, and the anticipated
addition of new bodies such as the Economic Development Committee (EDC), Legislative
Review Committee (LRC), and Disaster Council. It also accounts for the Clerk’s Office
overtime required to support both existing and new meetings.
Proposed Centralized Staffing Model:
The goal of offering hybrid access is to increase public participation and enhance
transparency in government. It is the City’s responsibility to develop and maintain a
Commission and Committee meeting model that delivers consistent, dependable, and
legally compliant results. Staff is recommending this proposed support model through a
dedicated Administrative Assistant—to ensure meetings are facilitated reliably and
equitably, regardless of the access format. The prosed staffing model centralizes the
staffing resources into one dedicated Full-Time Administrative Assistant position. This
position will have a schedule tailored to accommodate evening meetings so the City can
ensure continuous support during non-standard hours without incurring overtime.
The proposed staffing model for supporting Hybrid Commissions and Committees with
an addition of an Administrative Assistant position will allow the City to support these
meetings in a seamless and more efficient manner. This position is not being proposed
solely due to the addition of a single new responsibility associated with hybrid meetings.
Rather, it is a response to a confluence of operational pressures—many of which have
been compounding over time and have reached a critical point. These include not only
the increased complexity of hybrid meeting facilitation but also the cumulative workload
from livestreaming, onboarding new commissions and committees, and growing
procedural inconsistencies across meetings that are affecting both staff performance and
public experience. The current fragmented and reactive staffing approach is neither
sustainable nor efficient and often results in higher overall staff time.
Proposed Staffing Model Cost: A full-time Administrative Assistant salary is $146,710
Conclusion
Adding a dedicated position to support hybrid Commission and Committee meetings is
a strategic investment for the organization. It reduces overtime costs, boosts productivity,
enhances the public’s meeting experience, and ensures more seamless operations. This
role would also relieve the burden on other staff currently adjusting their schedules to
cover evening meetings, helping to maintain a more balanced workload across
departments. By adopting this staffing model, the City can strengthen operational
efficiency and better position itself for long-term success in a hybrid environment.
Ultimately, the return on investment for this role significantly outweighs the ongoing
costs of the current decentralized approach.
Prepared by: Teri Gerhardt, Chief Technology Officer
Approved by: Tina Kapoor, Acting City Manager