Even in the face of a pandemic, governmental function must go on, and local councils and boards are taking measures to ensure their meetings are conducted in a way that’s safe to members and the public in the midst of COVID-19.
At Hattiesburg City Council’s April 21 meeting, council members voted to continue meeting only twice in the coming month: May 5 and 19 at 4 p.m. Normally, the council meets four times a month, on the first and third Monday and Tuesday of every month.
In addition, May’s meetings will be held at Jackie Dole Sherrill Community Center on Front Street to allow attendees more space than the usual meeting spot of Hattiesburg City Hall. At the end of May, council members will re-evaluate the situation to determine whether to continue that policy.
“You have to wear a mask, and we are doing social distancing,” council president Carter Carroll said.
The Petal Board of Alderman, which meets every first and third Tuesday, also is ensuring there are no more than 10 people at any meeting. In addition, the board has long streamed its meetings on the city’s Facebook page for anyone unable to attend in person.
“With the board and myself, that’s eight people, and then you have the clerk and the city attorney,” Mayor Hal Marx said. “So when we meet, we’ve got 10 people right there. So what we’re trying to do is obviously limit how many people come into the room at one time.
“If someone wants to come into our meeting to address the board, we would have them come in one at a time, so that we could hear their issues. But we try not to have more than one visitor at a time, to keep it as close to 10 people as we can.”
The Petal School District Board of Directors will continue to have a physical quorum at its meetings – which are held the second Tuesday of every month – and then live stream the meeting into another room for up to nine visitors.
“If we have more than that, then we’ll obviously have another dedicated space for it as well, so we’ll have multiple spots available,” superintendent Matt Dillon said. “We still have to adhere to the nine or less (mandate).
“So for example, my administration, they come in virtually to the meeting, so really, it’s just myself and the board in the back, and the board secretary. We have can up to nine guests that are spread out, and if it gets bigger than that, then we have a backup plan for another designated spot for up to nine people.”
The Lamar County School District Board of Directors, which meets the second Monday of every month, conducted its April meeting virtually and posted it to the district’s website. Because of a minor glitch in the video, officials are looking for a system that will record and post simultaneously.
“We also need to be able to turn it off and on for the executive session,” superintendent Tess Smith said. “The (Mississippi Department of Education) has a similar system for their state board meetings.
“I don’t know when we will be able to return to public meetings. Just those required to attend would exceed the mandated gathering of 10 or less, so I imagine that it will be a while before we go back to normal meeting formats.”
The Purvis Board of Aldermen, which meets once a month, conducted its April meeting in about 15 minutes.
“We’re just going to kind of play it by ear with our next board meeting for the first of May,” Mayor Roger Herrin said. “If cases are still on the rise, we’re not going to have a bunch of folks there. We’re going to keep it under 10 people, I can tell you that. We’re doing the same thing, trying to do what the governor says and making sure everybody stays healthy. Maybe by June or July, this thing will blow on over. It’ll get better; we’re all going to be alright.”
