PINE BLUFF -- Pine Bluff government meetings are undergoing a temporary transformation due to the covid-19 pandemic, with city leaders approving an emergency ordinance Monday night to allow members of the City Council and other governing boards to meet via videoconferencing.
Mayor Shirley Washington said the city is considering the use of the Zoom platform, a videoconferencing tool.
Due to fears of coronavirus transmission, city leaders decided to take the step of closing meetings to the public at the end of March and to begin meeting in the Pine Bluff Convention Center banquet hall.
But as concerns continued to escalate over the spread of the virus, Washington introduced an ordinance authorizing the City Council and other public governing bodies to meet via videoconference during times of emergency. For public access, the ordinance says that, "when possible," the meetings will be broadcast over the city's Facebook Live account.
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The ordinance requires that the mayor, city clerk, city attorney, and committee or commission chairmen be physically present where the meeting is to be held while allowing all other participants to participate remotely.
The ordinance says any members of the public who wish to participate in the meeting should notify the mayor's office at least two hours prior to the meeting with questions that will be addressed during the meeting.
The only issue that arose from the council members had to do with the wording of the ordinance which, in four different sections, made reference to "pandemic emergency." Council member Glen Brown Jr. questioned whether the wording was too narrow.
"Throughout the document it refers to pandemic emergencies, but not all emergencies are pandemic emergencies," Brown said.
Joe Childers, assistant city attorney, agreed that the wording limited the scope of the ordinance, but he said the language could be modified at a future City Council meeting.
"Clearly the emergency right now is the pandemic," Childers said. "We can make the needed changes for the future at a later time."
The ordinance passed unanimously. Washington said her office would begin working out the details and schedule at least one practice meeting before the next City Council meeting April 20.
Although Arkansas state law is explicit in its provisions that require meetings of government entities to be open to the public, a number of local governments and commissions have responded to the pandemic by barring or discouraging public attendance.
The Pulaski County Quorum Court recently barred the public from attending in person, directing people instead to a live stream of the meeting online. Last month, the Arkansas Workforce Development Board organizers suggested the public dial in to a conference call, and declined to "offer an in-person attendance option."
The Little Rock and Fort Smith boards of directors recently approved legislation allowing directors to participate from remote locations using electronic means.
Discouraging or prohibiting the public to attend meetings in person would seem to contradict Arkansas' Freedom of Information Act provision, Arkansas Code Annotated 24-19-106, regarding open government meetings.
The Freedom of Information Act requires that gatherings of virtually all governing bodies supported by or spending public funds "shall be public meetings." These meetings typically have permitted visitors to attend in person.
As the coronavirus that causes covid-19 spreads, however, scholars and defenders of Arkansas' Freedom of Information Act say they believe many courts would find it reasonable to turn away members of the public from sitting in on these meetings.
"These are extraordinary times and we should all expect some extraordinary circumstances like restricting access to certain events," said Ashley Wimberley, executive director of the Arkansas Press Association, which lobbies to protect and expand the Freedom of Information Act.
UALR law professor Robert Steinbuch, a co-author of The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act book, said the legal standard for open meetings is that government groups must provide the public a "reasonable opportunity" to attend. However, he added, the law only guarantees citizens the right to witness the proceeding, not to participate, even though some groups do offer a public comment period.
Information for this article was contributed by Lisa Hammersly and Thomas Saccente of the Arkansas-Democrat-Gazette.
State Desk on 04/07/2020