Laughable

More than a year ago, the Legislature approved a series of exemptions in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus among the population while, at the same time, attempting to keep intact provisions set in the Brown Act, which regulates the meetings of California public entities.

Among the measures adopted, lawmakers decided to limit the number of people allowed at public meetings. Thus, many local governments have used this as a loophole to prevent voters from having direct access to their elected officials when they are making decisions that impact the community.

Interestingly, some governing bodies, such as the Board of Supervisors and the Imperial Irrigation District, have tried to avoid limiting entry of citizens to their public meetings as much as possible, thereby respecting to some extent what is established by state law.

However, other governing bodies have chosen to close the doors to the public and allow access under a “virtually only” policy.

This is the case with the Calexico City Council, whose members have chosen to deny community input when discussing controversial issues.

Under the pretext of preventing the spread of COVID-19, Calexico residents have been forced to watch meetings from their computers or from their smartphones.

Some sectors of the community have begun to discuss the possibility of reopening the council sessions to the community. Among them is Calexico Fire

Chief Diego Favila. He recently advised the council that government works by giving access to citizens.

In accordance with the guidelines established in the reopening plan launched by the California government, Calexico should (and must, in my opinion) allow entry of about 65 people to the Nene Torres Chambers.

The paradox is that city officials say they are waiting for guidance by Imperial County, which, as is well known, has allowed the entry of some people to its meetings for some time.

Mayor Rosie Arreola Fernández has indicated she has not decided on the reopening. What makes that ridiculous and laughable is that, while citizens are denied access to the sessions, she and Mayor Pro Tempore Javier Moreno have crossed the border and met with the municipal president of Mexicali, Lupita Mora. Very surely the mayor of Calexico was able to see firsthand the protocols established by the municipal government of the neighboring city in order to continue performing its daily activities while protecting the population and the workers themselves.

It does not take a lot of smarts to realize that keeping residents out of council meetings is not necessarily for the sake of public health, but rather to avoid listening to criticism from an electorate fed up with lousy leaders and failed administrations that have been unable or unwilling to solve problems such as insecurity, unemployment, the pandemic and many others.

It is time to reopen the council sessions. It must be done now and without excuses, whether some like it or not.