To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: David L. Corliss, Town Manager
Title
Resolution Adopting Town Council Electronic Participation, Connected and Hybrid Meeting Policy
Body
________________________________________________________________________________
Executive Summary
Town Council in March put in place by resolution protocols for holding and attending Council meetings virtually. Council in September extended its authorization for remote meetings through 2020.
At the time of the extension, Council discussed whether remote participation should be allowed to continue indefinitely; staff committed then to discussing that possibility with the new Council that was seated earlier this month. Accordingly, staff presents the attached resolution (Attachment A), which would enact an indefinite extension of Council’s remote meeting protocols.
Discussion
A new approach at the time they were necessitated, Council has since March successfully held fully virtual or hybrid virtual/in-person meetings. Seeing that success, Council may now wish to extend this practice indefinitely.
Allowing remote participation provides for greater flexibility for both Councilmembers and members of the public. When work or other obligations prevent participants from being physically present in Council Chambers during a Council meeting, remote access allows the opportunity for community dialogue and Council action on important issues.
During the September discussion, some Councilmembers also cited drawbacks of allowing remote attendance, including that Councilmembers may not be as focused during discussions when participating remotely as they are in person. Whether to continue allowing remote meeting access when it’s not necessitated by a declared disaster is Council’s discretion.
The resolution presented herein would keep in effect the policy (Exhibit 1) developed earlier this year to provide for various forms of remote Council meeting access. The policy allows Councilmembers to arrange for electronic participation in meetings up to 24 hours in advance. Councilmembers attending a meeting electronically can participate in quasi-judicial hearings with the applicant’s consent, as well as in executive sessions, under the policy.
The policy also defines connected - fully virtual - and hybrid virtual/in-person meetings and sets out when both types of meetings generally are allowed. In short, the Town Manager has discretion on when holding these forms of meetings is appropriate. In practice, I plan for staff to continue providing for hybrid meetings until a majority of Council would deem that’s no longer appropriate, or until conditions warrant a return to connected meetings.
If Council tonight opts to extend the possibility of remote Council meeting participation indefinitely, this action is not irreversible. Council at any point can adopt a resolution to rescind or change this policy.
Proposed Motion
“I move to approve the resolution as introduced by title.”
Attachment
Attachment A: Resolution
Exhibit 1: Policy