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Josephine County counsel, commissioners debate ordinance language on in-person vs. virtual meetings
Summary
County counsel and commissioners discussed revising ordinance language that currently permits meetings at a 'real or online' location, debating whether to require a named physical location while preserving a technical backup for emergencies.
Josephine County legal counsel and commissioners discussed proposed changes to an ordinance addressing where board meetings must be held and how the public may access them.
County Counsel Hiddix told the Board that the ordinance under discussion is a follow-up to a first reading and that this meeting was for discussion only. He said the ordinance is part of a two-step reading process and that changes would be considered at the second reading. He also said staff had materials summarizing recent state statute language about obligations to provide electronic or virtual access and offered to distribute a discussion primer to the Board.
The discussion centered on two related points: whether the draft ordinance should specify a single, named physical meeting location and whether the phrase "real or online" should remain in the code. Some members of the public during recent comment asked that the word "or" be removed so the ordinance would not allow meetings to be held only online. Commissioners and counsel expressed interest in a clear physical location — the Ambassador was mentioned as the county’s preferred meeting place — while also ensuring that technical failures would not automatically cancel meetings.
Counsel noted the "real or online" phrasing was originally adopted during the pandemic to allow flexibility if in-person meetings were prohibited. He said the language was intended as a contingency should a physical location be unavailable. Commissioners and staff discussed drafting clarifying language that would (a) name an approved physical location and (b) require that meetings provide an option for members of the public to access by telephone or video when reasonably possible, while preserving the county's ability to proceed if broadcasting fails for technical reasons.
No ordinance changes were adopted at the workshop. Counsel said he would draft proposed replacement language that cites the recently passed state statute language he reviewed and return with revisions at the next meeting or within the coming week.
The Board did not take a vote on ordinance text during this session; counsel recommended formal edits be proposed at the second reading so the commissioners could consider adoption then.
