Palm Beach moves to pursue state legislation allowing some virtual meetings

Hoping to expand the pool of candidates to seek elected office in the town, the Town Council agreed to pursue partnerships with other municipalities in an effort to create new state legislation related to public meetings.

During their meeting Tuesday at Town Hall, council members asked Mayor Danielle Moore to reach out to the League of Cities and local elected officials about their interest in helping to draft a bill that would permit government bodies to hold some meetings electronically.

Currently, state law requires that members of a government body must be physically present in order to conduct government business, but town officials expressed concern that the measure could hamper efforts to attract qualified candidates to run for office in a town where many residents are away for the summer.

Related: Palm Beach Town Council OKs one-year residency rule for political candidates

"You can tell by the look of the town that there's hardly any traffic on the street now," council President Maggie Zeidman said. "People have two, three, four homes, and they aren't here."

In bringing up the issue for discussion Tuesday, Zeidman initially suggested the council consider placing a referendum on the March municipal ballot that would amend a section of the town's charter requiring the council to meet once a month.

If the referendum passed, elected officials would be permitted to take the month of August off, potentially creating more interest among residents to run for council seats.

"This came up two years ago when we were in the middle of COVID," Zeidman said. "Our concern at the time was that we would not be able to get good people — like all of us sitting up here — to continue to serve on council. Since people have homes in other places, and they constantly have to fly back and forth, if we took the month of August off, we would generate more interest going forward in serving this town."

After a brief discussion, that option was rejected by the council.

Council member Julie Araskog said she was hesitant to commit to that alternative because of precedent.

"Every council before us has met every month," she said. "I would love to have July or August off. I think more people would run if they had August off. I understand why this was brought up, but my concern is that this is how we've done it all along. Plus, things come up."

Council member Bobbie Lindsay suggested that meeting virtually in August rather than taking the month off would be a better option, pointing to the success of that format during the pandemic.

"While I admit it wasn't quite an in-person meeting, we did well during COVID," she said. "I know with so many people moving to South Florida, my concern about cutting it off in general is some people will feel they didn't get heard, or something got slowed down an extra month. I'd like to pursue meeting virtually in August. There are a few people I know might run if they could do that."

The town likely would have more success changing its charter rather than changing state legislation, Town Manager Kirk Blouin told council members, pointing out that the state has "shown resistance" to allowing municipalities to hold their meetings electronically.

But potential state legislation allowing some virtual meetings also could draw wide municipal support, he added.

The town could ask its lobbyist, Mat Forrest, to work with Town Attorney John Randolph to draft a bill, find a sponsor for it, introduce it to the Legislature during its spring session, and then lobby for it, Blouin said.

"I think there would be great support, and it would solve all the problems for the issues that have been raised and give you flexibility," Blouin told council members. "It would be a good option for those who don't want to fly back, including current and future council members."

After hearing from Blouin, council members agreed to move forward.

"I support this," Lindsay said. "I think this will be well-received in the Legislature, and I think this will have a very broad appeal. I think we ought to try it, and let's pull in some other cities to join us on this."

Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach pursuing state legislation allowing virtual meetings