Skokie Village Board To Resume In-Person Meetings

SKOKIE, IL — The Skokie Village Board will return to in-person meetings starting next week, village staff announced, citing the governor's move to last week lift all remaining state restrictions on in-person gatherings.

Members of the public will be allowed to attend a village board meeting for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic prompted a shift to remote meetings. Public participation had been limited to messages sent by email or post.

Attendees at upcoming in-person board meetings should be prepared to practice social distancing, and anyone who is not fully vaccinated should wear a mask, according to village staff.

There will be no limits on attendance in council chambers or meeting rooms other than existing fire safety capacity limits.

The change comes more than two months after village trustees were sworn in to new four-year terms over video-teleconferencing software.

Only Mayor George Van Dusen, Clerk Pramod Shah and village staff appeared in person at the April 19 meeting.

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On May 28, Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued his 18th gubernatorial disaster declaration, each of which last for 30 days.

Among other things, the executive proclamation suspends certain requirements of the Open Meeting Act, finding that "the public health concerns at issue in this proclamation render in-person attendance of more than ten people at the regular meeting location not feasible.

Comments to Skokie village boards and commissions can still be submitted to publiccomments@skokie.org, and those received by 4:30 p.m. on the day of a village board meeting will be presented to the board.

Members of the public may also mail or hand-deliver their comments to: "Skokie Village Hall, 5127 Oakton St., Skokie, IL, 6077, Attention: Village Manager's Office." And written comments to be read at board meetings may also be left in an exterior drop box on the west side of village hall.

Ann Tennes, director of marketing and communication for the village, said in an email were no plans to allow people to attend in-person meetings remotely or hold future meetings with a hybrid of remote and in-person attendees.

Tennes told Patch the move to in-person meetings will start with the village board and expand to advisory boards and commissions.

"Many of the Village's advisory boards and commissions go on summer hiatus, and as such, many will reconvene in person in the fall," she said. "The transition from virtual to in-person will vary by commission."