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Manhattan Community Board Five
Community Board Five Support to Amend the New York State Open Meetings Law Regarding Public Meetings.
At the regularly scheduled monthly Community Board Five meeting on Thursday, February 10, 2022, the following resolution passed with a vote of 37 in favor; 0 opposed; 1 abstaining:
WHEREAS, The New York State Open Meetings Law (“OML”) exists to ensure that public business be performed in an open and public manner, and to ensure that the citizens of this state are fully aware of and able to observe the performance of public officials and attend and listen to the deliberations and decisions that go into the making of public policy; and
WHEREAS, The people must be able to remain informed if they are to provide oversight over public officials and ensure the proper and ethical administration of their responsibilities; and
WHEREAS, Under the OML as currently written, all official convenings of a public body for the purpose of conducting public business, including community board meetings:
- Must be open to the general public, except when in executive session as defined by the OML;
- Must be held in facilities permitting barrier-free physical access to all members of the public including the physically handicapped;
- Must be held in appropriate facilities that can adequately accommodate members of the public who wish to attend such meetings;
- Must, if using video conferencing to conduct its meetings, provide an opportunity for the public to attend, listen and observe at any site at which a member participates (e.g., their homes, place of work);
- No meetings can occur in venues with vaccination or negative COVID-test requirements, nor can public bodies establish their own vaccination or test requirements; and
WHEREAS, Prior to the commencement of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, all community board meetings were conducted in accordance with the OML requirements detailed above; and
WHEREAS, In March 2020, Governor Cuomo declared a state of emergency that waived the OML requirement that virtual meeting participants provide opportunity for the public to attend at any site in which a member participates, ushering in a period where most meetings under the jurisdiction of the OML took place virtually (including public participation), including all meetings of Community Board Five and substantially all of NYC’s community boards; and
WHEREAS, The state of emergency related to COVID-19 was lifted on June 25, 2021, reverting OML requirements to those as detailed above, and returning community board meetings to in-person, as required by law; and
WHEREAS, Following the resurgence of COVID-19 epidemic, the NY State Legislature passed legislation, subsequently signed by Governor Hochul on September 2, 2021, again suspending the in-person provisions of the OML until January 15, 2022, returning community board meetings to primarily remote formats; and
WHEREAS, Following the re-resurgence of the COVID-19 epidemic, the NY State Legislature passed legislation, subsequently signed by Governor Hockul on January 18, 2022, enabling continued remote-only meetings for as long as the state’s COVID disaster emergency, previously declared by Governor Hochul in November 2021, lasts; and
WHEREAS, The state’s COVID disaster emergency continues to remain in effect and community boards and other entities under the jurisdiction of the OML currently meet primarily in a virtual manner; and
WHEREAS, Community boards have successfully operated in a predominantly-virtual fashion, and in a safe, effective manner, since March 2020; and
WHEREAS, It is the opinion of Community Board Five that there have been substantial benefits gained from offering the ability to participate remotely in public meetings to members of the public and community board members; and
WHEREAS, Offering members of the public the ability to attend community board meetings remotely has resulted in a substantial increase of public attendance and engagement; and
WHEREAS, Offering members of the public the ability to attend community board meetings remotely has increased the accessibility of meetings to the public, including those with disabilities, children, work obligations, busy schedules, or difficulty navigating/paying for transportation; and
WHEREAS, Community Board Five believes that increased attendance, engagement, and accessibility of members of the public in community board meetings results in a better informed public, improved discourse and deliberations in meetings, and overall a better Board, and that we should strive to promote such outcomes to the extent it is within our power; and
WHEREAS, Providing community board members with the ability to attend community board meetings remotely has resulted in increased board member attendance and engagement, and increased the accessibility of meeting to our board members, including those with disabilities, children, work obligations, busy schedules, or difficulty navigating/paying for transportation; and
WHEREAS, As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, and becomes more likely to remain endemic within society even once “under control” for the near future, providing the ability for board members and members of the public to participate remotely grants them the autonomy to make the best health decisions for themselves and those around them; and
WHEREAS, Offering community board applicants, subject matter experts, government officials, and other stakeholders the ability to participate remotely diminishes the costs associated with applications or attending meetings, thereby enabling increased participation, improved quality of presentations, discussion and resolutions, and demonstrates respect for their time; and
WHEREAS, In sprite of the foregoing, operating in a solely remote manner during the pandemic may have made it difficult or impossible for certain members of the public or board members to attend or participate in community board meetings, including those with certain disabilities, those lacking technology/wifi infrastructure & knowledge, the elderly, and the poor; and
WHEREAS, As community boards are the level of government closest to the people, it is important that we operate in a manner promoting maximum accessibility to the public, including giving opportunity for public to engage with us in person; and
WHEREAS, We also believe offering opportunity for community board members to engage with each other in person enables development of stronger professional working relationships that improve the vitality of the board as a whole; and
WHEREAS, Our goal in a hybrid option is to give those participating remotely the same access and experience as those meeting in person: and
WHEREAS, Community Board Five is of the opinion that there is substantial value to offering a hybrid approach combination of a central physical location to members of the public and board members to attend and participate in public meetings in person or remotely, as a matter of public policy and when a state of emergency related to the pandemic, natural disasters, or other disruptive events or acts of god are not occurring; and, therefore be it
RESOLVED, That Community Board Five supports a bill to expand the Open Meeting Law’s goals of maximum transparency, efficiency, and best use of resources for public deliberations and decisions; and be it further
RESOLVED, That Community Board Five believes community boards should have the ability to hold virtual and/or hybrid meetings under certain circumstances, including but not limited to public health emergencies, weather conditions, and significant disruptions raising risks to personal safety; and be it further
RESOLVED, That any law passed should recognize that attending meetings through virtual means shall be legally equivalent to attending in-person for quorum and voting purposes and acceptable under the Open Meeting Law; and be it further
RESOLVED, That Community Board Five supports amending the Open Meetings Law to allow NYC’s Community Boards the ability to hold Virtual and/or Hybrid meetings in perpetuity.