Salem City Council Votes To Keep Meetings Remote Through Summer

SALEM, MA — The Salem City Council came together long enough to agree to stay apart a little bit longer Thursday night.

In their first in-person meeting in more than 15 months since the onset of the coronavirus health crisis, councilors met in a special session to determine whether meetings would be in-person, fully remote or a hybrid model of in-person meetings with a remote viewing and participation option now that both the state and citywide state of emergencies have lapsed.

Last week, Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bill extending many popular pandemic allowances — such as expanded outdoor dining and to-go cocktails — as well as the rule allowing cities and towns to conduct public meetings remotely through April 1, 2022.

Each city and town is given the option of how they conduct their meetings as long as there is public access, but state-issued guidance urged those communities returning to in-person meetings to provide a remote-participation option.

"In light of the various free and low-cost technologies that could be used to provide the public with real-time access, the Division of Open Government strongly recommends that a municipal public body consults with our office before determining that it is unable to provide the public with real-time access to a meeting," the state said.

After a lengthy debate, the City Council voted 8-2 to remain fully remote until the technical aspects of a reliable hybrid meeting can be implemented. The resolution calls for the City Council to meet remotely in July and August and return in September with the remote-participation option, if feasible.

"Good call — especially given the huge uptick in residents attending virtual online meetings," said Mayor Kim Driscoll, a strong proponent that the remote option brings more public participation in municipal meetings, in response to the vote.

Councilors Steve Dibble and Arthur Sargent were the two who voted to immediately resume full, in-person meetings.

While most councilors expressed a desire to meet in person, if possible, there were questions about how quickly a reliable, real-time remote participation option could be set up.

There were concerns that if a meeting was presented with a hybrid option, and that could not be delivered because of technical reasons on a given night, whether the City Council would be in violation of its own bylaws.

So, for now, the computer boxes are back in Salem as the city looks to make sure those both in the chambers in person, and those who are home, can participate in meetings with reliable, equal access.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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