The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Town meeting protocols get pandemic update
GOSHEN — Gov. Ned Lamont clarified an issue of concern for town leaders this week in Executive Order 9H, which says town meetings can be held online as well as in person.
The concern surrounding online meetings came up in Goshen in September, when First Selectman Robert Valentine scheduled a special town meeting at the Goshen Fairgrounds’ dairy barn. About 15 people voted on accepting a street as a town road. At the time, Valentine said he would continue to hold town meetings in person, because doing it online without an executive order could make the vote illegal.
Resident Leya Edison and others questioned having an in-person meeting without an online option. Since the pandemic, municipal boards and commissions have used Zoom and other online programs to hold meetings and vote on applications and other matters.
The public often is welcome to join, listen and in some cases give input. But the town meeting form of government that involves fiscal decisions and appointments, for example, didn’t have a clear enough direction for Valentine.
A part of Executive Order 9H states that towns and cities can
hold town meetings that involve taxpayer voting on spending, acquisitions and other business online, using a platform like Zoom, as well as in person, or a hybrid. On the ct.gov website, 9H is dated Oct. 20, and gives a lengthy description of how town meetings can be handled using a hybrid model.
According to the order, “Remote Participation in Municipal Meetings,” a local legislative body “may hold a public meeting or hearing that provides for remote participation in its entirety, or for remote participation in conjunction with an in-person meeting, which shall be referred to herein as a ‘hybrid meeting.’”
Remote participation, according to 9H, includes public comment, and the “ability of electors or qualified voters to vote, if eligible pursuant to state statute, municipal charter or other applicable legal authority, at any meeting, annual town meeting or special town meeting,” according to the order.
The order also says public officials must use precautions “in a manner that significantly reduces the rise of transmission of COVID-19,” and that no one can be denied attendance because they choose to do so remotely for the duration of the pandemic.
Valentine said he has been pushing for a definitive answer to town meeting procedure, and will be prepared to use 9H during Goshen’s annual town meeting Nov. 16. “It will be hybrid,” he said.
Goshen resident Audrey Blondin, a lawyer, said she helped Valentine after an indoor, in-person meeting was held. “I had some concerns about that, as did other residents,” she said. “I went to Bob and asked him about doing the town meeting remotely, and he said there were no provisions to allow for it. We went back and forth, and we had some difference of opinion.
“We talked about it at a Board of Selectmen’s meeting, and Bob said he was working with the Northwest Hills Council of Governments, and could I help out,” Blondin said. “I got in touch with the governor’s office, and they worked with Bob and myself to get this done. The best part was, we found out about it during Tuesday’s (Oct. 20) selectmen’s meeting.”
Valentine immediately took steps to prepare for the next town meeting in Goshen.
“Yesterday and today, I put on order the necessary equipment to facilitate that kind of meeting, $7,000 is what it will cost us,” he said. “We’re going to have a 75inch monitor, which will allow anyone in the meeting to see who’s participating.
“When I run the meeting, I have (Zoom) on a laptop, and I can see them, but nobody else can because we’re sitting apart,” Valentine said. “Last week, I used a projector to put the laptop on a larger screen, but it didn’t have the clarity we needed. Then we ordered some pretty high-tech camera equipment and microphones to help with sound, to allow people to hear what’s going on.”
Valentine is using grant funding for some of the equipment, and the balance will come from Goshen’s emergency management line item in its capital nonrecurring fund. “To get that (monitor), camera and microphone was a big expense,” he said, adding that he hopes to find some reimbursement from the state’s COVID-19 relief fund if more money were to become available.
One of the concerns raised by other town leaders was how to verify the identity of residents before they vote. Litchfield First Selectman Denise Raap recently said that her town meeting in August was held outdoors, and that the town clerk was there to check IDs.
Valentine has a solution for that, too. “When people come to the Zoom meeting, they’ll be in the waiting room, and the registrars and town clerks will check them in, one at a time, with their ID,” he said. “Then they’ll be allowed to enter the meeting.”
Blondin was pleased that Lamont’s office took action on the online meeting issue.
“This will be a tremendous benefit to all towns with town meeting forms of government, and there are a lot of them,” she said. “You should never have to risk your health for the right to vote, and now people don’t have to take that chance. We’re so grateful to the governor for addressing that and making the necessary changes to allow for a Zoom town meeting.”
The Nov. 16 meeting will be held at Goshen Center School, for those who want to attend in person. Social distancing will be in place, Valentine said. “I think it’ll work,” he said. “And we don’t have to worry now about someone challenging what we voted on, which is key.”