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Residents urge Dolores to keep Zoom public-comment access; board opts to retain virtual participation for now
Summary
Multiple residents addressed the board urging retention of Zoom for public comment to preserve accessibility; trustees agreed to retain trustee remote participation and public virtual comment for now and to clean up the town's COVID-era emergency ordinance.
Several residents attending by video and in person urged the Dolores Town Board to preserve Zoom-based public participation, saying virtual access enables workers, parents and absent residents to engage with local government.
Noah, a local business owner, said Zoom is “the only way to participate” for some who cannot attend in person because of work or childcare and urged the town to prioritize accessibility. Rachel, who identified herself as owning a property at 204 South Fifth Street, and Michael Sawyer raised similar points about transparency and the value of archived meeting videos on YouTube for later review.
Trustees responded that they value accessibility and will keep trustee virtual participation and public Zoom comment in place while staff revises emergency ordinance language that currently permits trustee attendance by video. Trustee Chris Curry, joining from Zoom, said the platform worked clearly at this meeting and advocated retaining it for now.
Why it matters: The board’s decision affects residents’ ability to participate and who can access deliberations. Staff reported a review of 16 neighboring towns showed about half allow virtual public comment, so Dolores’s approach is within local variation but notable for keeping options open.
Next steps: Staff will draft revisions to the emergency order to remove the COVID-era emergency language while preserving a policy for trustee and public virtual participation; the board will revisit the issue after staff returns proposals.
