Going Hybrid

The COVID-19 pandemic has had few bright spots, but one surely has been the surprising way more people were able to watch government in action in the places they call home on the South Fork — checking into town, village and school boards through virtual sessions.

Prior to the pandemic, it would take a hot-button issue to bring bodies out to meetings held midday or in the evenings. Even more frustrating would be when constituents complained that issues had not been fully vetted publicly — when, in fact, they had been bantered about for months, just at meetings that not everyone has the time or energy to attend.

Rewind to the spring of 2020, when the landscape for public meetings changed drastically, by necessity. They were forced to begin — awkwardly, in some cases — to host meetings online. Whether it was because lockdown freed up some time, or interest grew in how our local governments and schools were handling the pandemic, viewership was strong, far exceeding the typical attendance rate at live meetings. Almost two years later, residents are still taking advantage of the accessibility that virtual meetings offer.

Last week, Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation sponsored by Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. and State Senator Jim Gaughran to allow state and local governments to hold meetings remotely through the remainder of the pandemic. But Thiele said he hopes to see the Open Meetings Law expanded to allow for hybrid meetings even after the pandemic, one day, is in the rearview mirror.

So do we. Frankly, this kind of adjustment was necessary even before the pandemic, yet only a few municipal governments — East Hampton and Southampton towns, and the Sag Harbor School District — tapped into technology to make themselves more accessible to the public.

In tandem with Thiele’s efforts on the state front, it is critical that municipalities take stock of the technology and resources they have at their disposal to ensure that meetings will maintain virtual access once in-person sessions resume. There’s no question that live meetings are essential to ensure the public’s right to meet with elected officials face to face — strictly virtual meetings are an emergency measure, nothing more. But shutting out parents who are unable to secure child care to attend a local school board meeting, or making it difficult for the disabled or elderly from being able to participate in government, is not only unconscionable at this point, we know it is patently unnecessary.

There is a lot to figure out — how to efficiently and effectively allow for virtual comments and interaction is one thorny issue; whether it’s a good idea to allow board members to dial in from, say, Florida on a regular basis to vote on local measures is another. But if the last two years have taught us anything, it is that we have the technology, and when it comes to transparency and doing the public’s business, there is no better place to spend our resources.