Public meetings in the age of COVID-19
Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s call to limit public gatherings to 10 people and a temporary suspension of some open meetings laws have put a particular strain on city and school leaders.
To keep the wheels of local government and school districts turning, many are using streaming video and teleconferencing to connect board members and inform the public.
Both the Burnet City Council meeting at 5 p.m. March 24 and the Burnet Economic Development Corporation meeting at 3 p.m. March 25 will utilize a telephone conference line as noted on their respective agendas. Officials also will stream the council meeting on the city of Burnet’s Facebook page and allow residents to post questions for the councilors. The Burnet Consolidated Independent School District will conduct a special meeting March 23 at 4:30 p.m. via a telephone conference call. Board members will not be physically present at a given location but will establish a quorum over the phone. They also will stream video of their meeting.
The special Bertram City Council meeting at 6 p.m. March 24 will likewise be closed to the public but will stream via the city’s Facebook page.
The special Granite Shoals City Council meeting at 2 p.m. March 24 will be conducted in person. Because of the limit on public gatherings to 10 people and the attendance of five City Council members and two to three staff members, only a couple of residents will be permitted to attend and required to maintain social distancing.
The city of Marble Falls is still developing a plan on how to address its meetings next week.
This, of course, only represents a portion of local meetings. The public is urged to check city and school district websites and agendas ahead of regular and special meetings as situations develop.