Last week the Massachusetts Legislature passed a bill that will allow remote and hybrid meetings to continue through March 31, 2025. The measure was part of the House and Senate supplemental 2023 budget bill, which is awaiting the governor’s signature. The current authorization for remote and hybrid meetings will expire Friday, March 31.
Almost all of Harvard’s boards and committees are still meeting remotely via Zoom. In the month of March, only the Harvard Public Library’s board of trustees and the most recent meeting of the School Committee’s Policy Subcommittee were held in person with no hybrid option. One disadvantage of such in-person meetings is that it is more difficult for the public to attend them. For instance, last week’s forum on PFAS in private wells, held by the Board of Health, was physically attended by fewer than 40 people, but drew over 90 Zoom participants. Another disadvantage is that in-person meetings are not typically recorded and are therefore unavailable for viewing on Harvard’s Cable TV website. Only the large meeting room in Town Hall is set up to record in-person meetings; all virtual meetings are currently being recorded with Zoom’s record feature.
Brittany Blaney-Anderson, HCTV station manager, told the Press, “I think it’s safe to say that there is still an appetite for total meeting coverage.” She said in the last three months there were only two meetings that were not viewed at least once. She added that if any boards would like to move from remote to hybrid meetings to accommodate in-person and virtual attendance as well as recordings, station personnel would either advise board members on what equipment to use or train them to run those meetings from the large meeting room in Town Hall.
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge told the Press that residents and town officials continue to tell him that they want remote or hybrid municipal meetings to continue. The Legislature is also considering a variety of bills that would make this option permanent. Some versions go so far as to make hybrid meetings mandatory for all municipal public bodies. Eldridge said he doesn’t believe that will happen, mainly because not every town in the state has reliable internet, a necessity for holding hybrid meetings.
