The Future of Remote Public Meetings Rests with Good Policy

Source: Gov Tech Published: June 12, 2020

Now that remote public proceedings have become more common after COVID-19, an observation has been made: remote meetings can compromise the transparency of government and the ability of the public to participate.

This observation lies at the heart of a statement written by California Common Cause Executive Director Jonathan Mehta Stein. The statement, titled “Government Transparency in an Emergency,” describes the risks involved with remote meetings and principles that might be followed in order to mitigate those risks. The hope is for state and local governments to develop policies with these issues in mind. 

“We need guardrails in place to ensure that governing doesn’t move further out of public view,” Stein said in an interview with Government Technology. “We recognize that government needs flexibility in this moment to respond to the crisis or the multiple crises going on in America today. But in order for government to act effectively, there has to be accountability, and there has to be transparency.”

One concern revolves around the sudden necessity of remote proceedings. Remote proceedings are being held regularly today, which has opened the door for votes “that are sometimes scheduled late at night or on weekends, enabling lawmakers to avoid public scrutiny,” according to the statement from California Common Cause. 

In other cases, a lack of transparency could result from the technical limitations rather than dubious intentions.