It was a typical scene of summer—almost. Early in the evening of the fireworks, when the day was still light but beginning to cool, Lorin Johnson and Tom Philippou sat in Adirondack chairs on the Hildreth House porch. The clues it wasn’t just a social get-together were that there were no beers, not even iced tea, and the voice that seemed to come from the potted impatiens on the small table between them was Sharon McCarthy’s, coming through Philippou’s iPhone.
A posted and productive Board of Health meeting was underway by taking advantage of a new regulation of the Open Meeting law that allows members to participate remotely.
The previous week, the board, which usually meets every other Tuesday, had been interviewing candidates for their clerk position and wanted to move quickly on a decision. The three board members agreed to meet the following Tuesday. It was only later that McCarthy realized the date was July 3 and conflicted with her family’s Fourth of July plans on the Cape, McCarthy told the Press.
The board decided to try the remote participation option that the state Attorney General’s office approved only last November and that the Board of Selectmen adopted for the town in February.
While the remote option worked for the Board of Health last week, it might not work for every board. Board of Health Chairman Philippou was of two minds about remote participation. He thought it was good for the ability to participate, but could see a problem for boards reviewing documents or if attendance became more lax.
This wasn’t the first board to have a member participate from afar. In March, Robert Capobianco called into a Zoning Board of Appeals meeting underway in a more conventional setting. According to Land Use Administrator Liz Allard, the meeting went well, even though an initial attempt to video conference using Skype over wireless internet at the library had difficulties and the board resorted to speaker phone. Allard emailed digital copies of necessary documents to Capobianco before the meeting.
While the option will help board members who couldn’t otherwise attend keep up with meetings, it won’t get around the problem some boards and committees have assuring a legal quorum. The remote participation amendment to the Open Meeting Law still requires that only members who are physically present count for a quorum.
Anticipating one of Philippou’s points, the regulations allow remote participation only under certain conditions, which include personal illness, disability, an emergency, military service, or geographic location.
Other requirements from the Attorney General’s office are that all votes must be by roll call and all participants, remote and immediate, must be audible to one another and the public, as well as visible to all if video conferencing is used.
Certainly, other boards are likely to test out the remote participation option. They might also like the porch option.
