Weston trustees adopt limits on officials' electronic communications during meetings, with exceptions for emergencies

The Village of Weston Board of Trustees approved an addition to the elected and appointed officials handbook that limits when trustees and appointees may send or respond to electronic communications concerning matters pending before the board during meetings.

Trustees debated how the policy would work in practice and whether it should say officials may not "receive" messages (which would be impractical) or rather that officials should not "send or respond" to electronic communications on pending matters during a meeting. Several trustees and the administrator said the goal was to keep members engaged and prevent excessive device use during meetings while allowing legitimate, limited communications such as family emergencies or time-sensitive work calls.

After discussion, trustees amended the proposed language to emphasize that officials shall not send or respond to electronic communications about matters pending before the body during the meeting, with explicit exceptions for emergencies and for communications unrelated to pending agenda items. Trustee Weiland (and others) emphasized the policy's spirit: to curb "excessive" device use and preserve meeting engagement rather than to ban devices entirely. The motion to adopt the handbook change passed by voice vote; the chair recorded a 5–2 split in favor.

Trustees asked staff to refine the handbook wording to replace ambiguous terms and make enforcement guidance clear. The board also discussed practical concerns such as whether officials would be required to disclose when they were checking a device and whether the village would review device notifications; trustees rejected any proposal to inspect phones. The amended policy will be included in the handbook as adopted and published for trustees and appointees.