Local Governments Evaluate Physical Meeting Attendance During New Disaster Declaration
On Friday, Governor Pritzker
signed a new
disaster declaration and Executive Order No. 2020-44 that local governments should be
aware of since they specifically mention physical attendance at public meetings.
Background
As we previously reported, recent
Open Meetings Act amendments allow local governments to hold meetings
without a physical quorum under certain conditions.
One condition requires that
members of the public present at the regular meeting location must be able to hear
all discussion, testimony and votes of the public body. However, if “attendance at the regular meeting location is
not feasible due to the disaster, including the issued disaster declaration,” the
public body must make alternative arrangements and provide notice allowing any “interested
member of the public access to contemporaneously hear all discussion,
testimony, and roll call votes, such as by offering a telephone number or a
web-based link . . . .”
Another condition requires at
least one member of the public body, the chief legal counsel, or the chief
administrative officer to be physically present at the regular meeting location,
unless the disaster makes it unfeasible.
Feasible Physical Public
Attendance
In his most
recent disaster declaration, the Governor states that for purposes of the
new Open Meetings Act amendments, “I find that the public health concerns at
issue in this proclamation render in-person attendance of more than fifty
people at the regular meeting location not feasible.” However, many regular
meeting locations will be unable to accommodate up to 50 people while
practicing social distancing. As a result, local governments may need to
independently establish how much physical attendance is feasible at their
regular meeting locations during the disaster for meetings without a physical
quorum. Local governments could also consider alternative meeting locations that
may accommodate greater physical public attendance.
Feasible Physical Attendance
for Public Body Members
Additionally, the Governor’s
latest EO 2020-44 encourages at least one member of the public body to be
physically present if others are attending by phone or electronically, even
though the recent Open Meetings Act amendments also allow the chief legal
counsel or chief administrative officer to satisfy this minimum physical
presence requirement. The order does not reference the Open Meetings Act at all
and the Governor is simply encouraging, not mandating, physical attendance by
at least one member. That being said, local governments might consider whether
it is feasible to have at least one public body member physically present at
the meeting place when there is not a physical quorum.
Notice on Websites and Social
Media
EO 2020-44 also
states that public bodies “must take steps” to provide video, audio, and/or
telephonic access to meetings to ensure members of the public may monitor the
meeting, and to update their websites and social media feeds to keep the public
fully apprised of any modifications to their meeting schedules or the format of
their meetings due to COVID-19, as well their activities relating to COVID-19. These
requirements previously expired with the adoption of the Open Meeting Act amendments
but are re-imposed by this executive order.
Physical Quorum Meetings
Meanwhile, some local governments
are returning to meetings with a physical quorum, where the ordinary Open Meetings
Act requirements apply. In those meetings, local governments may continue to
offer remote participation for members of the public, but remote participation
for members of the public body should comply with the regular Open Meetings Act
remote participation rules. Additionally, local governments might consider revisiting
their public comment rules to accommodate the new avenues of public
participation they opened in recent months.
The conditions in the new
disaster declaration may persist until a vaccine or a highly-effective and
widely available treatment exists. As a result, local governments should consider
how the public, elected officials, and staff will participate in their public
meetings under these conditions.
Post authored by Daniel J. Bolin
0 comments:
Post a Comment