COUNTY BOARD TO TAKE STEPS TO PREPARE FOR FUTURE HYBRID MEETINGS

December 15, 2021
County Board Chair Analiese Eicher, (608) 571-6823
County Board

The Dane County Board of Supervisors will meet virtually on December 16, 2021 at 7:00pm for the last meeting of the year.

 

At the meeting, the Board will consider an ordinance amendment that would update Chapter 7 of the Dane County Ordinances, the ordinance amendment can be found here: https://dane.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5195021&GUID=79E272C8-2832-4725-B098-E41300553651 Chapter 7 outlines the County Board rules regarding how the County Board functions, meeting formats, motions, etc. This ordinance amendment updates the ordinance to allow the Board and its committees to hold future meetings in a hybrid format – which would allow for attendance and public testimony to occur both in-person and virtually.

 

County Board Chair Analiese Eicher recently notified County Board Supervisors that meetings will continue in their virtual format until the technology is upgraded, board rules updated, and the COVID-19 public health threat reduces for those wishing to attend in-person to do so safely. County facilities also remain closed until June 13, 2022.

 

"We are all feeling the fatigue of the pandemic, but the steps we are taking, including updating our Board Rules, puts us closer to being able to conduct hybrid meetings," said County Board Chair Analiese Eicher. "We want to be successful, and that means meeting safely, and with the correct processes and technology to do so."

 

The County Board has been meeting virtually since March 2020. A virtual meeting process was created within days of the first virtual meeting and has been used as an example for several units of government throughout the United States. The toolkit can be found here: https://board.countyofdane.com/documents/Zoom-Instructions-Updated-11.18.2020.pdf

 

"While we had kinks to work out, our virtual meetings have been successful – we’ve seen increased participation from members of the public, and we will continue to work towards a more inclusive solution," said Eicher.

 

The agenda for Thursday’s meeting can be found here: https://dane.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=814103&GUID=255798C3-E61E-40BB-A488-6604F07D201D Information to register to speak or attend can be found at the top of the agenda.