Melrose Lawmakers Want More Local Government Access

MELROSE, MA — One of the bright spots to come of the pandemic was more accessibility to local government. During the state of emergency, which lasted from March 2020 to last month, government meetings were broadcast online and allowed for public participation from home.

Pretty much, officials and residents alike could partake in the governmental process in their pajamas. It was messy at times, but it mostly worked.

But now boards and committees are back to business, meeting in person instead of from a makeshift home office or kitchen table. While some vital bodies — like City Council and School Committee — are broadcast live on MMTV, most operate in small room largely invisible and in many cases inaccessible to the much of the public. For instance, the Board of Health can go back to meeting without being broadcast, despite a lingering pandemic.

And in cases where the meetings are broadcast, public participation from one's couch isn't guaranteed.

City Councilors Jen Grigoraitis and Leila Migliorelli are offering a resolution for Monday night's Appropriations Committee meeting that would declare "the Melrose City Council, in an effort to provide increased transparency and engagement of residents in local government, will provide the public the opportunity for remote participation when public comment is on the agenda of the City Council’s meetings, to the best of the City’s ability"

The resolution also encourages other bodies of the city to "make similar arrangements for remote access for and participation of the public at their meetings and hearings to further ensure that the residents of Melrose have equal access and the ability to engage at all levels of government."

The resolution is nonbinding, meaning it doesn't force anyone's hand. But it's a show of support for government accessibility and transparency, while putting a little pressure on other important bodies that people struggle to keep up with.

Mike Carraggi can be reached at mike.carraggi@patch.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatchCarraggi. Subscribe to Melrose Patch for free local news and alerts and like us on Facebook