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Village Board tables remote-attendance policy after heated debate
Summary
Trustees debated a proposed policy allowing remote participation in special meetings, with supporters citing accommodation and opponents warning of misuse for short-notice special meetings. The board voted to table the policy pending legal clarification.
The Village Board of Trustees on July 13 engaged in a prolonged and at times contentious debate over a proposed remote-attendance policy that would allow trustees to participate remotely in special meetings.
Trustee Jack Constatos said the policy would accommodate life events such as illness, funerals or work conflicts and stressed it was not intended to benefit a single trustee. "We're all human beings...we have jobs," Constatos said. Opponents raised concerns that the policy could enable trustees to avoid in-person deliberations for nonurgent special meetings and could be misused when meetings are called on short notice.
Attorney Ryan Morton explained the draft policy would still allow the board to vote whether a remote participant may join a closed session, and he said local code permits the village president or three trustees to call special meetings. Trustee Kumar and others said repeated special meetings this term made them wary of expanding remote access for meetings that are not scheduled regularly.
After debate the board voted to table the policy to allow staff and counsel to clarify legal implications and what changes, if any, to local rules about special meetings would be permissible; the motion to table passed by roll call.
Separately, the board approved a related resolution directing the village clerk to provide the village president a copy of the June 29 executive‑session audio; that resolution passed with one trustee voting no. Trustees said the executive-session audio access was a separate transparency step unrelated to the remote-attendance policy.
Next steps: the remote-attendance draft will be revised and returned for further legal review and board consideration. The executive-session audio requested for the president will be provided per the resolution.
