Lacey City Council invites in-person participation at new hybrid meetings

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At its final meeting for 2021 last Thu., Dec. 16, the Lacey City Council approved an ordinance that allows councilmembers and the public to participate both in-person and online.

As some government leaders and the public become more concerned about in-person meetings due to the looming COVID omicron variant, the Lacey City Council voted to invite the public back into the council’s chambers starting in two weeks. At the same time, they rescheduled the meetings to start at 6 p.m. to enable more people to participate after work hours.

Starting with its Thu., Jan. 6, 2022 meeting, the city will hold its regular city council meetings starting two hours later than in recent months, at 6 p.m. The ordinance came almost two years after the city imposed temporary procedures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While things are starting to go back to normal, the council anticipated that remote participation would still be helpful, even after the pandemic ends. “As you know, we’re going to go to a hybrid model; I think that is going to be a new standard… So if you choose to watch from home, that’s great, that’s more convenient,” City Manager Scott Spence said.

Spence also asked patience from the public as the city goes through a shift in technology. The city manager noted that residents interested in providing public comment might do so in-person or online. For those who will participate remotely, residents need to register before the meeting and be featured on the pull-down screen.

“For me that is really the difference here,” Lacey Mayor Andy Ryder said. He shared that remote participation had made a huge impact on the city’s public engagement, “We’ve had more public participation even at four o’clock than we did historically at seven o’clock…it’s not a big time commitment … [residents can] log onto the beginning of the meeting, give their public testimony and not affect their day.” 

Councilmember Michael Steadman also expressed his approval of the change to the meeting schedule, “it’s primetime; people really wanted to make the meetings have an easier time making them.”

The next city council meeting is scheduled at 6 p.m. on Thu., Jan. 6, 2022.

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