The Greensboro City Council will hold two meetings in the council chambers in city hall on Tuesday, April 6.
And that’s big news.
It has been nearly a year since the City Council held a meeting in the council chambers.
The last meeting before the meetings went virtual was on April 14, 2020.
Since that April 2020 meeting, all council meetings have been virtual.
But on Tuesday, April 6, Mayor Nancy Vaughan and some of the city councilmembers will actually be in the council chambers. It is officially being called a “hybrid” meeting. Reportedly the number of people in the council chambers will be limited to 10, which means with the city manager, city attorney and city clerk present, all nine members of the City Council can’t be.
The council will hold a work session in the council chambers at 3:30 p.m. and then the regular first meeting of the month at 5:30 p.m.
Back before the COVID-19 restrictions, the City Council work sessions were held in the Plaza Level Conference Room where the members of the City Council and the city manager sat the conference table and city staff, media and the public sat in chairs against the wall. The more informal atmosphere was supposed to promote discussion.
For the April 6 work session, some councilmembers will be in the council chambers and some participating virtually.
At the business meeting at 5:30, the public forum, also called speakers from the floor, will be held virtually, which is an improvement because when the City Council started meeting virtually in April 2020, speakers from the floor were not allowed to speak at the meeting. It was not until October that the City Council allowed speakers from the floor to even speak virtually, which meant for six months the City Council did not allow speakers at the public forum it is required by state law to hold once a month.
The Guilford County Board of Commissioners under both Republican and Democratic leadership has met in person throughout the pandemic. Public attendance at meetings was restricted.
State Law don’t mean jack, except for us peons. They do fairly well as they please. They always have a ‘splunatin’.
They will continue this mess as long and as far as you let them. They have already basically restricted or denied public hearings and speakers from the floor in the name of the scamdemic. It will get more & more restrictive & the next big claim will be “for their safety.” So they an meet privately and don’t have to deal with us peons whom they are supposed to be representing.
“When we allow the government to do what they want in an emergency, they’ll create emergencies so they can do what they want”