Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Virtual Meetings topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sawyer County committee debates stricter enforcement of virtual attendance rules
Summary
County supervisors debated whether to tighten enforcement of an existing bylaw limiting virtual attendance to three meetings per year, with some members urging penalties and others warning stricter rules could jeopardize quorum and discourage candidates.
Members of the Sawyer County Administrative Committee on Thursday revisited the countyvirtual-meeting policy amid complaints that the option is being abused. A committee member said virtual participation has become a substitute for in-person attendance and urged the board to eliminate the option for routine meetings. Other supervisors urged enforcing the existing bylaw, which they said limits virtual attendance to three meetings per year, and discussed measures such as requiring prior permission, re-educating new supervisors about expectations, and withholding per diem pay for noncompliance.
The chair proposed adding the policy language to the top of county-board and committee agendas to remind members of the requirement; the county clerk agreed to begin including a reminder line in agenda emails. Several members expressed concern that removing or severely limiting virtual access could make it harder to secure quorum or discourage people from running for office. One member noted that missing three or more meetings in a year is grounds for removal under the bylaws but said the county has had difficulty following through on such enforcement.
No formal policy change was adopted at the meeting. Committee members asked staff to circulate the current rules more broadly and tasked the clerk and chair with monitoring compliance; the item was set to return to a future agenda for possible action.
