Poll: Should Town Officials Participate in and Vote in Meetings Remotely?

The board of selectmen discussed Tuesday night, Nov 22, the option of adopting the remote participation rule for the town of Foxborough. A vote by selectmen in favor of adopting the rule, would allow all boards and committees in town to participate through the remote participation rule as well.

On Friday, Attorney General Martha Coakley's Office introduced new regulations under the Open Meeting Law that authorize remote participation in meetings under certain circumstances.

The purpose of these new regulations is to promote greater participation in government, while upholding the main purpose of the Open Meeting Law – transparency,” said AG Coakley in the announcement. “While in certain extenuating circumstances members of public bodies are permitted to participate remotely, we encourage physical attendance when at all possible.”

Selectman Chair Larry Harrington requested the agenda item, as he is a corporate Vice President at Raytheon who travels frequently and has missed meetings. 

The AG further states "that the practice of remote participation must be adopted by the chief executive officer of the municipality for local public bodies, or by a majority vote of the public body for state, county and regional public bodies, before public bodies can use it.  If remote participation is adopted, under the new regulations, members of public bodies may use audio or video conferencing to participate in meetings when physical attendance is unreasonably difficult due to personal illness, personal disability, emergency, military service, or geographic distance."

The selectmen plan to meet in the coming months with other boards and committees in town to gain their insight on remote participation.