To the editor:
Boards of selectmen, school committees, licensing authorities, city and town councils, county commissioners, as well as all other state and local boards, commissions and committees need to take note — the pre-pandemic requirements of the Massachusetts Open Meeting are about to return.
Gov. Charlie Baker’s State of Emergency is scheduled to end at 12:01 a.m. on June 15, at which point the March 12, 2020, Executive Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law, which has allowed public bodies to officially meet remotely and to provide the public with “adequate alternative access” to meetings, will terminate.
The Legislature is actively considering bills that would extend most or all of the provisions from the Executive Order regarding remote meetings. However, if such legislation is not enacted to take effect by June 15, then public bodies must be prepared to hold meetings with at least a quorum of the public body members physically present at a meeting location, which is open and accessible to the public.
Public bodies are reminded that notice of all official meetings must be posted at least 48 hours in advance, not including weekends and holidays, and the public meeting notice must specify the location where the public may access the meeting.
Therefore, unless and until new legislation is enacted that alters those requirements, public bodies should plan and post notice for meetings to be held in-person beginning on June 15.
Thank you.
Ron Beaty
West Barnstable
