CONCORD — Officials are wrestling with how to maintain open government, including the public’s right to know and participate, at a time when staying healthy means keeping people apart.
On Sunday, for example, the Concord School Board held an emergency meeting to discuss how to deal with Gov. Chris Sununu’s order to close public schools. It was held via telephone and internet.
“The board president also determined, in consultation with the superintendent, that given the potential health issues associated with convening a public gathering, it was necessary to hold a virtual meeting, with all board members participating remotely,” is how the draft minutes of the meeting put it. “This is considered a ‘non-public’ meeting under RSA 91-A because the public will not be able to observe or participate simultaneously. Such a meeting is permissible to consider emergency matters.”
A memo sent Monday by Attorney General Gordon MacDonald and Gov. Chris Sununu detailed legal requirements under the state’s public meeting law.
“Under normal circumstances, a quorum of the members of the public body must be physically present,” the memo noted.
A quorum is the minimum number of officials needed for a meeting to be legal.
However, it said, if the presiding officer determines that an emergency is present, the physical presence requirement might be waived so that an all-electronic meeting is legal.
Even when held electronically, the memo noted, meetings must still give sufficient advance public notice, usually 24 hours. More difficult is the issue of making such virtual meetings accessible to the public.
“The public body must still provide a physical location to allow for public access to the meeting (even if such location is, for example, merely a room with a speaker phone),” the memo says. “They could also provide the public with a call-in number for meetings that are conducted entirely by telephone.”
Minutes must be kept and disseminated as always, and in a meeting held electronically, all votes must be by roll call.