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Hudson council reviews draft local law to codify video-conference participation; public hearing required before vote
Summary
Council counsel outlined a proposed amendment to the City Charter that would set local criteria for when members can participate remotely (noting state law allows remote participation for qualifying disabilities), and explained the local-law process including a required public hearing and timing constraints before a formal vote.
Council counsel outlined a proposed local law to amend City Charter section C34-12 to clarify when council members may participate in meetings by video conference and when remote participation may count toward a quorum.
"If this were, if you had nothing on the books, you could adopt this practice ... but you've already got a law," counsel said, describing the process to amend the charter and the public hearing requirement under state law. He noted the state Public Officers Law §103 allows video conferencing and sets parameters; the draft amendment would remove ambiguity by listing qualifying extraordinary circumstances and establishing an internal review process for borderline cases.
Counsel also described a proposed operational limit: if a member uses remote participation for discretionary personal reasons, it should be limited to two occasions per year. He emphasized that a council president would make an initial determination in unclear cases, subject to override by a majority of the council.
Council members asked whether remote participation counted toward quorum absent a qualifying disability; counsel said that under current practice only a qualifying disability as defined by state law allows a remote participant to be counted for quorum purposes. The council discussed next steps: reformatting the draft into a local law, scheduling a public hearing and returning the final language for a vote after the 8-day public notice period required by local-law adoption rules.
Next step: staff will reformat the draft into a local law, publish a version for public comment and schedule the public hearing and subsequent formal introduction.
