SCARBOROUGH — On July 22, the Scarborough Town Council approved a policy that allows for councilors and members of the public to participate in meetings remotely, something many have grown accustomed to since the COVID-19 pandemic started.
With the state of Maine’s recent statute allowing members of a public body to participate in meetings remotely, Scarborough was given the opportunity to approve policies within each public body that allow members to be able to tune into meetings electronically in extenuating circumstances as well as gives the members of the public the ability to watch and participate in meetings over Zoom, said Town Manager Tom Hall.
Since the spring of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, the town of Scarborough started livestreaming and uploading remote and hybrid meetings to the town’s YouTube page. Members of the public have also been able to access Zoom links to public meetings through the town of Scarborough’s website, which are usually printed at the tops of meeting agendas.
As pandemic-related restrictions have lifted and public bodies have been able to meet in-person at Town Hall once again, hybrid meetings have become the norm, with some elected officials participating remotely when necessary. During the meeting on July 22, Council Chair Paul Johnson and Councilors Jean-Marie Caterina and Jonathan Anderson were tuning in remotely.
“I think we all came to appreciate the value of that and the convenience, given that circumstance,” Hall said. “Beyond that, I think there was a silver lining in this kind of forced experiment. I think tonight is a great example. We’ve got members of the council who are not physically able to be here, but they are every much in every way an active participant in this preceding. Similarly, I think the public has come to really enjoy the ability to connect into these meetings in the same format.”
The state statute did not detail public participation, but Hall said that the local policy will assume that members of a public body are present at a meeting when able.
“The expectation of members of a public body is that you be here physically present when possible,” he said. “For reasons of illness, or physical inability because you’re on vacation or otherwise unable to attend the meeting are other acceptable reasons for remote participation, but the expectation is you be in-person. The law does not necessarily speak to the expectation for the public.”
The policy will allow each Town Council meeting to continue in a hybrid fashion, with members of the public given access to a Zoom or YouTube link, said Hall.
“In many cases (councilors) may all be present, but members of the public, staff and other interested parties may be connected remotely,” he said.
Each Scarborough committee and board or other public body must pass a similar policy to allow remote participation, Hall said.
Councilor Jean-Marie Caterina said she supported the policy and thought that the hybrid format allows for the expansion of democratic involvement from constituents.
Before councilors voted to approve the policy, Councilor Don Hamill spoke in support of the policy, too.
“It’s amazing to see what happens in a crisis, and I guess out of necessity we just bolted forward in terms of connectivity and our ability to record and engage people,” he said. “There are really some tremendous things. I mean, a lot of frustration and a lot of Zoom fatigue but without it we really would have been in a sorry state.”
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