ST. CHARLES – St. Charles County Council held a meeting last month to discuss several emergency bills pertaining to the coronavirus pandemic but members of the public were barred from attending in person, causing confusion and frustration among the community.
The meeting was live-streamed and the public was encouraged to submit comments via email to be included in the official record. However, due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the safety requirements that have followed, the county has had to change its policies and some feel the new rules lack transparency.
State Rep. Tony Lovasco (R-O'Fallon), who tried to attend the meeting but was prohibited from completely entering the room, thinks that state officials, including the governor, could offer some much-needed clarification to the language in their coronavirus guidance and orders that would make the rules on holding open public meetings in Missouri more clear-cut.
He told The St. Louis Record that he does not want to make major changes to the state's sunshine law but to just add a bit of transparency.
"The way it works is that if a meeting is virtual, then allowing a live stream for the public is acceptable," Lovasco said.
The Missouri Sunshine Law, as it stands, does provide electronic options for public access when meetings are held online or through some kind of teleconference. However, if it's conducted in physical place, then it states that the public has a right to physical access.
In this time of social distancing, councils might be required to rent larger facilities so that members of the public could be seated while maintaining safe distances of 6 feet to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Rep. Jim Murphy (R-St. Louis County) told Lovasco that the St. Louis County Council managed something similar during a recent meeting, Lovasco said.
As public ordinances are enforced in ways that have never been before, the Missouri Attorney General’s Office has issued guidance for now and asks all members of the community to adhere to the rules and regulations.