By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
The COVID-19 pandemic has produced a lot of uncertainty this year for everyone. Last week, the uncertainty came to local and county governmental bodies after the Michigan Supreme Court denied Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s request to extend her many executive orders including one allowing virtual meetings for 28 days.
The Michigan Supreme Court’s latest ruling came last Monday just as many governmental boards in Southwest Michigan and around the state were getting ready to hold meetings. The high court’s Oct. 12 order made their Oct. 2 ruling that Whitmer did not have the authority to unilaterally issue executive orders after April 30 go into effect immediately.
The Monday ruling caused cancellation of a number of meetings including the one scheduled for the Buchanan City Commission. Buchanan Mayor Patricia Moore announced Oct. 12 to those on the virtual feed that the meeting was canceled and would be rescheduled later in the week. They did so on advice from the Michigan Municipal League.
New City Manager Heather Grace said afterwards that the concern was that they could be in violation of the Open Meetings Act if they held the meeting before legislation was passed restoring the validity of virtual meetings.
In Buchanan, officials ended up holding their regular meeting on Wednesday, Oct.14 outside at Centennial Park in order to better meet social distancing and gathering size requirements. The planning commission meeting scheduled for Oct.13 was postponed until this week.
Similarly, Berrien County officials made changes to how they conducted their Thursday morning weekly meeting last week. The Berrien County Board of Commissioners held a hybrid meeting with a quorum of commissioners at the administration building in St. Joseph and the rest of commissioners and the public accessing the meeting virtually via YouTube.
County Corporate Counsel Judge John Dewane told commissioners last week that the new law allows public bodies to have remote meetings if they follow guidelines similar to what had been in Whitmer’s executive order until the end of the year.
After Jan. 1, 2021, Dewane reported that remote/virtual meetings can only be permitted for specific situations involving medical conditions, military duty or if a local or state “state of emergency” is in effect. The only exception allowed from meeting in person starting Jan. 1, 2022 is military duty.
The new law also puts down requirements for public participation. Members of the public must be able to have two-way communication with officials-whether it is via computer or phone. Public notice requirements also remain in effect and include posting meeting information on websites.
Like many governmental bodies around the state, the Berrien County Board and the Buchanan City Commission have been relying on the ability to meet remotely or virtually since mid-March. Many meetings have been held via Zoom or a similar digital platform in a hybrid form with officials meeting in person and the public electronically.
The remote/virtual meeting uncertainty as well as other questions raised by the Michigan Supreme Court decisions made for a busy week in Lansing. The state senate and state house both passed legislation restoring the ability to hold such meetings last Tuesday and Gov. Whitmer signed the bill into law Friday afternoon. It went into immediate effect.
Prior to the bill’s passage later Tuesday, 78th District State Rep. Brad Paquette said he looked forward to supporting the fix for virtual/remote meetings as well as questions raised on other matters such as the extension of unemployment benefits.
Paquette reiterated his position that all of last week’s uncertainty after the Michigan Supreme Court decisions could have been avoided if Whitmer had worked with the legislature instead of going it alone and issuing executive orders.
“The governor went it alone,” he said. “We supported the extension of the state of emergency back in April with the objective of making sure executive orders were best for all. However, our input was not heard and Whitmer refused even communication about change or modification in anyway based on our constituents voices.”
“We would learn about executive orders from the news like everyone else and then have hundreds of people calling us as to uphold some of the vague yet draconian requirements,” he added. “We found that they were beginning to pit good people against good people in trying to uphold them, so we did not vote to extend back on April 30.”
In a statement released when she signed the bill last Friday, Whitmer noted that “By allowing for remote meetings, public bodies and residents can continue practicing safe social distancing while also ensuring meetings remain open, accessible and transparent to the public.”
“I am grateful that the Legislature has taken another step towards protecting Michiganders against the spread of COVID-19 by codifying my executive orders,” she stated. “As always, I remain ready to work alongside the Legislature to pass laws that help us defeat this virus together.”
Other items addressed in her now defunct executive orders have been restored by state agencies under other state laws. For example, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services restored orders on mask wearing and the size of public gathering right after the Oct. 2 high court ruling under the authority of the public health code.
Michigan Press Association Public Affairs Manager Lisa McGraw said last week that virtual meetings have worked well for the most part during the pandemic. She said one of her organization’s ongoing concerns have been making sure the public has the ability to participate in meetings and state their opinions.
Without the legislative fix passed and signed into law last week, she said public bodies would be solely governed by the Open Meetings Act which does not allow for virtual/remote meetings as it is written. The act requires meetings to be in person with members of the public able to attend and participate.
The bill signed into law last week allows for public bodies to hold virtual/remote meetings through the end of 2020. It also validates all the actions public bodies have taken in their virtual/remote meetings in the months since Aoril 30 when her executive orders were last effective. Some officials had been concerned that they would have to go back and redo the actions they had previously taken.
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