A charter change that would allow city of Troy officials to participate in meetings virtually will soon head to the mayor’s desk.
The amendment to Chapter 2 of the city’s charter would allow city councilors and members of other “public bodies” to participate in meetings remotely.
The change would still require enough officials to be present physically to have a quorum. Under the proposed law, officials could only participate remotely if they are dealing with “extraordinary circumstances,” such as being sick or have an emergency. They must also receive approval from the council president, majority leader, and minority leader. Virtual participants may also be asked to provide documentation substantiating their absence.
Ryan Brosnan, who represents District 2, was the sole Republican to vote for the legislation. He says he worked with Democratic Councilor Aaron Vera to modify the proposed law’s language to make it difficult to abuse the power, a concern of the other Republican’s on the council, who voted against the measure.
Brosnan says the law could make local government more accessible.
“If it's not an emergency or a sickness, then it really shouldn't even matter, or it shouldn't affect the Council on a normal day to day. This isn't, I think, just an ‘I’m not going in today,’ like it's ‘I’m sick, there's something going on.’ So, it seems, in my opinion, as if, though it really shouldn't be abused, and now probably couldn't be abused,” Brosnan said.
Council President Sue Steele, a sponsor of the bill, called it “solid legislation” and thanked Vera, a Democrat, and Brosnan for working together to come up with agreeable language. Steele says the proposed law could be effective for all public servants in the city.
“It's we're in the 21st Century here. We need to use the technological tools that we have at our disposal and make the meetings more transparent, more available to the public, make it easier should an emergency arise that a council member could participate remotely,” Steele said. “It's used in other municipalities. It works fine.”
The law also allows residents to participate virtually in any meeting that has at least one council or board member video-conferencing in. Some councilors had previously expressed concerns over allowing remote participation, fearing that meetings could be overrun by non-residents. Council President Pro Tem. Thomas Casey said at a September 19th meeting that prospective councilors may abuse the privilege, pushing “activist” agendas.
“I could just see somebody saying, ‘Hey, I'm going to video conference. We're going to open it up.’ And we're going to have people from Kingston, Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, New York City, Rochester, Buffalo, everything, everybody chiming in on what we should do in Troy, from their living rooms, from their computer, from their tablet, from their phone, not traveling here, because I think you give them a little if they come here and they want to speak about that stuff,” Casey said. “And I just think it would really open it up, and it would make a mess of the whole situation.”
Casey, a Republican, says he was in favor of amendments to the legislation, but voted against it out of concern the new rules could lengthen already-long meetings. He says when the practice of virtual participation was in place during COVID, meetings dragged on.
The legislation now heads to a regular meeting of the city council before its fate will be decided by First-term Republican Mayor Carmella Mantello, who tells WAMC she does not support the legislation in its current form. Citing her experience as council president during COVID, Mantello says:
“If you're sick as a dog, you're not going to participate in council meeting like me. I'm sick right now, I'm coming down with a cold, but if I'm really sick and down now where I have COVID, I'm not going to participate in a council meeting as a council member and one that I can speak because I was council president,” Mantello said. “So, I think it opens up the potential of abuse. I think it opens up the idea, if I have a doctor's note, I'm going to bring it to council members and the clerk to give a thumbs up to me. Who are they to tell me that my doctor's note is valid?”
