The COVID-19 pandemic altered public meetings in New York, making government participation for elected officials and members of the public in an era of remote video conferencing and social distancing.
Now, as the state’s emergency orders for the pandemic fall away, but concerns over rising cases and the delta variant linger, good-government organizations in New York are trying to find a way forward for conducting public meetings with both transparency and safety in mind.
The groups, led by Reinvent Albany, called on the state’s main open government office this week to publish guidance on how public meetings should be conducted. How can attendance, voting, quorums and testimony by the public and elected officials be considered?
And there are questions over how public bodies at the state and local level would provide accommodations for people with disabilities.
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