Warrant Article Title:
VOTE/PUBLIC REMOTE PARTICIPATION

Warrant Article Text:
To see if the Town will vote to establish parameters for interactive, simultaneous remote participation by members of the public in meetings of all public bodies in the Town of Arlington; or take any action related thereto.

Requested by:
(Inserted at the request of Elizabeth Dray and ten registered voters) 

Report Excerpt:
The Select Board requests Town Meeting’s support for the creation of a study committee to evaluate the extension of remote participation opportunities in public meetings after the suspension of the Open Meeting Law’s requirement for in-person meetings is lifted. As Town Meeting knows, all public bodies are required to have meetings in-person in physical locations. However, the Select Board is responsive to the observation that video-conference meetings under pandemic conditions have largely increased public participation in public meetings. While the Board is cognizant of legal and logistical limitations of some facets of “hybrid” meetings, it unanimously supports a focused, short-term study committee to examine which committees and commissions and which portions of meetings ought to be made accessible for public participation by remote means; how to best provide such remote access; and what costs in equipment, staffing, and support would be necessary to adequately provide same.

Vote Language:

That Town Meeting hereby establishes a Remote Participation Study Committee to be structured, organized, and charged as follows:

 

Remote Participation Study Committee

 

1. Committee Membership and Organization

 

A. The Committee shall consist of nine (9) members:

• One (1) member of the Select Board, or their designee

• One (1) member of the School Committee, or their designee

• One (1) member of the ARB, or their designee;

• The Town Manager or their designee;

• One (1) member of the Disability Commission, or their designee; and

• Four (4) Town Meeting Members appointed by the Moderator.

 

B. The Town Moderator or their designee shall serve as chair of the committee for the purposes of the Committee’s first organizational meeting, in which the Committee may elect officers as it deems appropriate.

 

2. Committee Charge

 

The Committee is charged with comprehensively examining options and requirements for providing remote participation through video-conferencing or other similar technology in public meetings under ordinary conditions where, among other things, the Open Meeting Law will require in-person attendance by public body members in a physical location. The Committee’s study shall include, but not be limited to:

 

A. Evaluating the benefits and challenges of providing hybrid forms of public meetings;

B. Assessing which public bodies can and should provide remote participation;

C. Examining what portions of meetings can and should be available for remote participation;

D. Determining what, if any, local rules beyond legal requirements can and should be established for remote participation;

E. Understanding the costs of different models of remote participation, especially hybrid remote participation;

F. Evaluating the impact of remote participation on accessibility requirements and concerns.

 

3. Committee Reports

 

A. The Committee shall provide a report to the Town Clerk and the Select Board on or before October 1, 2021 to:

 

i. Make ranked recommendations with respect to remote participation policies in the Town of Arlington; and

 

ii. Offer any recommended Town Meeting warrant articles for inclusion on the 2022 Annual Town Meeting Warrant.

 

B. The Committee shall provide a final report to the 2022 Town Meeting on all of the subjects listed herein.

 

4. Dissolution

 

Absent a vote of a future Town Meeting to maintain it, the Committee shall dissolve following the close of the 2023 Annual Town Meeting.

 

(5 – 0)

Additional Materials:

Select Board Report

Amendment - Dray (1)

Amendment - Dray (2)