The Roxbury Town Council meets tonight, July 12, IN PERSON ONLY at 7:30PM at Town Hall in Ledgewood.
This is the first, regular Town Council meeting that will be limited to in person attendance in over 2 years. The recent decision to eliminate a virtual option is a disappointing one to us. As members of the public noted at the June 28th meeting, there are residents in town that attend virtually for reasons that many people can relate to: mobility issues, child care, prefer not to drive at night, and so on. Some Council members have participated virtually at nearly every meeting, including the June 28th one.
The reasons for eliminating the Zoom option (staffing, money) were mentioned but not up for discussion. The council had discussed this privately and made their decision. Suggestions for how to address those problems were given by members of the public. The council was not interested in any other outcome than to limit attendance.
The decision and some public response was covered by local media:
http://www.tapinto.net/towns/roxbury/sections/government/articles/remote-viewing-residents-fume-as-roxbury-ends-zoom
Furthermore, we are disappointed that the Town Council made the decision without any public input nor add it, in advance, to the meeting agenda.
We believe in providing as much public access to local government meetings as possible, not less. We also believe that our community deserves more than the bare minimum of communication and transparency from our elected and appointed officials.
“It’s the least we can do” should never be the highest standard a governing body should set for itself and the people that they represent.
We encourage residents to attend the public meetings that are available.
