Dane County Board staff sent out an email with the following instructions for committees as well as notification that they will test the use of “go to meeting” to be used for the remote county board meeting on Thursday.
In an email from the County Board Chief of Staff, the Supervisors were informed of the following:
- Staff will be working from home
- For the most part there are no reason for committees to meet and they should not schedule meetings unless absolutely necessary.
- Executive Committee will meet on Thursday to propose new rules for the county board.
- The County Board meeting will be done by “go to meeting” for most board members.
- The public will be informed of how they can attend the meeting remotely as well.
- They will be getting basic protocols for effective remote meetings.
This is the email from the county board staff:
In light of the rapidly evolving COVID-19 outbreak, all County Board staff will work remotely beginning Monday morning. You can continue to reach each of us via email, and the Office phone number (266-5758) has been forwarded so that Josh Schroeder can answer calls and forward messages. We are available during regular work hours; please do not hesitate to reach out if you need assistance.
As you know, Public Health Madison and Dane County advises that the best way to decrease exposure is to limit the amount of contact with others. Today, March 15th, PHMDC has restricted gatherings of over 50 people.
For the most part, there are few reasons for committees to meet in the short term and Chair Eicher has advised committee chairs not to schedule meetings unless absolutely necessary.
In order to allow standing committees and boards and commissions to hold meetings with members participating remotely in the coming weeks, Chapter 7 and Chapter 15 of the Dane County Code of Ordinances must be revised. Therefore, the Executive Committee will meet briefly Thursday to approve two ordinance amendments and make recommendations on the Board rules for the 2020-2022 term. These will be the only agenda items.
In the next two days, Board Office staff will work with the Division of Information Management to test the use of go to meeting for the County Board meeting this Thursday. We believe most Board members and department staff will be able to participate remotely. Board rules do not prohibit this, and the Corporation Counsel has indicated that the law does not preclude participation telephonically or via other electronic devices.
Once we have worked out the details, we will reach out to find out how you would like to attend the March 19th meeting. There will be step by step instructions regarding how to call, use your computer, or iPad to attend the meeting.
Of course, we will also inform the public of the opportunity to attend the meeting remotely.
Finally, before Thursday we will distribute basic protocol for effective meetings with individuals participating remotely. Chair Eicher is experienced in the use of remote meeting technology and we are confident the County Board will be able to continue to function as needed during these unusual time.
As always, please contact me if you have questions or concerns.
Karin Peterson Thurlow
Chief of Staff
Dane County Board of Supervisors
OPINION
Wow what a difference between the city and county approach.
CITY: Top down leadership prohibits committees from making decisions about if they hold meetings.
COUNTY: Leaves it up to the people on the committees to make the decisions.
It’s like the whole world is upside down. The county has stopped controlling everything with the new leadership. The city is exercising extreme control and doing what amounts to power grabs.
