PITTSBORO — At the board’s second hybrid virtual and in-person meeting Monday, Chatham County Commissioners continued to discuss making virtual meetings more accessible and fair for the public.
Prior to last month’s regular board of commissioners meeting, board gatherings took place with limited public attendance and public hearings were delayed as staff worked to adapt the meeting structure during the coronavirus pandemic. During Monday’s public input session, deciding a course of action for future public hearings — specifically for the Williams Corner hearing — was addressed by several speakers.
In the discussion of public hearings slated for the Aug. 17 meeting, board Chairman Karen Howard addressed the question of accessibility to the meetings.
“Staff has spent a considerable amount of time on ensuring that the public has access to the meeting and I do want to say I think it’s been the goal for this board — in all the conversations we’ve had — to be fair, transparent and predictable in how we conduct our meetings,” she said.
Howard added that county staff and the board should prepare for the possibility of needing to hold future meetings, including public hearings, completely virtually.
“There are multiple things to be considered and not the least of which is that for each of these meetings we do put ourselves at risk by attending the public meetings,” she said. “Given the trajectory of the pandemic in the state and country, I think we should at least be aware of the possibility that as numbers increase we may be revisiting any decision we make about how we meet at our August meeting.”
The upcoming Aug. 17 and Sept. 21 work and regular session meetings already contain many scheduled public hearing items. With staff recommendation, the board attempted to spread items out by moving uncontroversial items to a consent agenda and delaying less urgent items to the September meeting. Howard said she thought limiting the number of hearings at the August meeting would be wise for the board, staff and public and help ensure fairness throughout those discussions.
At the Aug. 17 meeting, the public hearing on Williams Corner — a 118-acre mixed use community that its website says is “unlike anything else in Chatham County” — will finally take place after months of delay due to the coronavirus. Controversial with the public, many residents have asked the board to further delay the meeting until the public hearing can occur completely in person. During the board’s discussion Monday, county staff said this item had been on the docket since January and needed to be addressed.
Board Clerk Lindsay Ray said 50 people registered for Monday’s meeting through the GoTo Webinar platform and that there were at least six attendees on-site at the Chatham County Agriculture and Conference Center. Because of complaints that it was difficult to hear commissioners and staff at the board’s last meeting, Ray said the commissioners met in a separate room from those in attendance at the conference center.
“We weren’t able to have the sound on in the large room while they were talking and I know, we as staff, had a hard time hearing the commissioners and others in attendance did as well,” Ray said.
Instead, in-person attendees watched the meeting from the GoToWebinar broadcast in an overflow room, Ray said, which made allowing people to hear the whole conversation much easier.
“It is also easier to hear in here if we make the room smaller,” she said. “Totally a decision on the best acoustics for the format.”
Before adjourning the meeting, Howard spoke about racial justice and equity in Chatham’s criminal justice system during her commissioner’s report. She noted her willingness to continue engaging in community conversations, particularly in regards to how the county funds things and understands how the court system works.
“Chatham has some opportunities to do some things, I wouldn’t necessarily say better, but different, with the goal of having a better outcome,” she said. “I know this is only the beginning and there’s so much more to be done but I am very encouraged by who’s participating in those conversations and the willingness to self examine — that while we are doing good things, there are things we could be doing better.”
Reporter Hannah McClellan can be reached at hannah@chathamnr.com.