In-Person Government Meetings May Resume June 15

In a clear step toward normalcy, public meetings will likely shift from virtual to in-person after June 15 following the expected end of Governor Baker’s COVID-19 State of Emergency that allowed for fully-remote meetings.

Frequent watchers of public meetings in Amherst over the past 15 months will be very familiar with the refrain at the start of every meeting: “Pursuant to Governor Baker’s March 12, 2020 order suspending certain provisions of the Open Meeting Law…” The pertinent provision that was suspended states that “a quorum of the body, including the Chair, are present at the meeting location.” The suspension permitted all members of a public body to participate from a remote location, whereas previously, the Remote Participation Policy required that at least the Chair and a quorum of the body were physically present.

According to a May 17 press release, the State of Emergency in Massachusetts will be lifted on June 15, ending the temporary order allowing fully-remote meetings. Previously, the Town Manager had predicted that Town Hall would remain closed for in-person public-body meetings until Labor Day.

Reached by email, Council President Lynn Griesemer cautioned that “there is truly a scramble at the state and local level to clarify all of the ramifications regarding the Governor’s announcement this week. Therefore it would be premature to definitively say that Town Council and other town meetings will meet one way or another beginning in June.” 

However, at a Pelham School Committee meeting on May 19, Superintendent Michael Morris said that, given the changing Governor’s orders, it may be the last virtual School Committee meeting. “Anything in the month of June may have to be in-person,” he said. “The next meeting you see may have a location that’s not a URL. You will want to look closely instead of assuming you will click through five minutes before.”

Although some are advocating that the Governor extend the state of emergency for a bit longer, Morris said the feedback he had received shows that the Governor is “not particularly interested in doing that.” 

In an email, Councilor Alisa Brewer told the Indy that the Town has been working with Senator Jo Comerford, Representative Mindy Domb, and the Massachusetts Municipal Association for more than six months, to have the legislature extend the Open Meeting Law to allow the Chair and a quorum to participate remotely. 

In the meantime, School Committee Chair Allison McDonald confirmed that their meetings will return to in-person, beginning with the joint meeting of the Regional, Amherst, and Pelham School Committees on June 15. A location has yet to be determined.

Although a return to in-person meetings is another step toward normalcy, the virtual format did offer advantages that some will miss. For Councilor Darcy Dumont, meetings held online were far more accessible to the public, especially for older people and those with disabilities. Responding by email, Dumont said remote meetings allow for a much larger group to attend and offer public comment, whereas the room at Town Hall (where Town Council meetings are held) has capacity for about 40 people. 

Councilor Andy Steinberg, too, noted the increased attendance at meetings — by Councilors, committee members, and the public. “When controversial topics are being discussed, we have had much greater public comment than our experience at in-person meetings,” he said. 

In addition to some meetings being broadcast and recorded under contract with Amherst Media, the Town’s staff have been posting recordings of other board and committee meetings to their YouTube channel. Brewer wants to maintain this level of access, post-pandemic. “We need to continue to have all local appointed and elected-body meetings recorded for broadcast,” she said. “And we need to continue to offer the public a way to provide call-in testimony during public comment periods, rather than going back to pre-pandemic where the only verbal public comment depended on if you can get transportation, child/elder care, or have time to wait in a public room.”