Participants in the Academy for Excellence in Local Governance refined their knowledge of the proper use of rules and protocol during public meetings, especially virtual hearings, to ensure public trust and engagement.
Council and Commission meetings are the backbone of local government in Maryland and are one of the primary ways residents can share their opinions and concerns, oversee government business, and understand the use of taxpayer dollars. These are also run by individuals who are often serving in local government office while working and taking care of their families. When participants are busy and pulled in a number of different directions establishing and maintaining proper decorum helps avoid unintended errors in process. This is vital to making sure things stay organized, efficient, and compliant with codes and ethics laws.
#MACoCon attendees that were participating in the Academy for Excellence course on running effective meetings got to learn first hand, from an expert, some tips to making sure council members and commissioners are on their game during meetings, especially in the new era of virtual meetings. While standard procedures, agendas, objectives, motions, subsidiary motions and the like were covered in detail, a lot of the discussion focused on the proper processes for virtual hearings that have become more common in government.
Some highlights on virtual meetings covered:
- how to assess if a meeting can be held virtually or if the content requires in-person participation
- creating an effective and appropriate set-up for virtual participation – lighting, dress code, camera use, etiquette, etc.
- reduce agenda by 20 percent and stick to the basics because attention is harder to keep on virtual meetings and the logistics take longer than in-person
The presentation also included videos featuring actual public meetings where procedures were not followed properly and others where the decorum components were handled correctly so participants could see real life examples of things going wrong and right.
Speaker: The Honorable Lynn Galletti, Council Member, Mount Airy
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