San Rafael, CA – The Marin County Board of Supervisors is holding a fully electronic meeting April 14 in response to the continued COVID-19 pandemic shelter-in-place order.
The Board members will be logged in via videoconferencing software and are actively encouraging remote public participation in the meeting via email and new online options.
In response to the local shelter-in-place order that helps prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the County temporarily will use Facebook Live to stream its meetings and allow for live commenting while the meetings take place. The Facebook Live will be available on the Board of Supervisors webpage for agendas, archives, and staff reports.
“The Board chamber will be empty, so we expect it will take a little time to adapt to this new way of doing business – not only for the Board and our residents, but also for staff,” County Administrator Matthew Hymel said. “While we need to adhere to the requirements of the public health order, we also need to continue delivering essential County services upon which our residents rely.”
During the meeting, residents can comment on specific agenda items using the new comment form on the County website. The comments will be read during the meeting (up to a time limit set by the Board President) when the specific agenda item is considered by the Board. The comments will become part of the public record.
Email is another way that residents may have their voices heard on agenda topics. Written comments may be submitted to the Clerk of the Board via bos@marincounty.org. Comments received by 3:30 p.m. the day before the scheduled meeting will be shared with the Board members and will be placed into the public record.
During the COVID-19 emergency, governments all over the country are adjusting to new challenges in meeting participation and compliance with laws that protect informational transparency and public participation in municipal decision-making. Recent action by Governor Gavin Newsom allows public agencies more electronic flexibility in how they conduct meetings during the shelter-in-place order.
Board meetings are streamed live on the County website and are available for archived viewing on the same webpage the next day. For Comcast TV subscribers, the meetings generally are shown live and in reruns on Channel 27 through partnerships with the Community Media Center of Marin and Novato Community Television.
Once the shelter-in-place order is lifted, the County will return to public meetings on site.
Check the Marin HHS webpage for more information about local COVID-19 developments.