The Council hereby establishes the following policy for participation in meetings by electronic means of communication:
(A) A Councilmember may participate in a meeting by any electronic means of communication that allows all participating members of the Council to communicate with one another and allows the public to simultaneously attend and observe the meeting, unless the meeting is an executive session.
(B) The minutes of the meeting shall identify whether members were physically present, participated by electronic means, or were absent. The minutes shall also indicate the electronic means by which the member participated (e.g., Zoom or Microsoft Teams), and that the public attended and observed the meeting, if the meeting was not held in executive session.
(C) All votes shall be taken by roll call vote when at least one member is participating by electronic means of communication. A technological failure in an electronic means of communication that prevents or disrupts simultaneous communication by a Councilmember or member of the public who is participating electronically does not prevent the Council from conducting the meeting or affect the validity of an action taken by the Council, provided that the members physically present and the members participating electronically without technological failure still constitute a quorum and meet applicable Council majority voting requirements.
(D) At least 50% of the members must be physically present at a meeting (i.e., five members). To ensure that enough members are physically present to meet this 50% requirement, members participating by electronic means shall notify the Council President 48 hours in advance of a meeting of his or her intent to participate in the meeting electronically.
(E) The electronic means of communication must allow:
(1) All of the participating members to simultaneously communicate with one another; and
(2) The public to simultaneously attend and observe the meeting, unless the meeting is held in executive session.
(F) A member who participates in the meeting by an electronic means of communication shall be considered present for purposes of establishing a quorum but may participate in any final action taken at the meeting only if the member can be seen and heard.
(G) (1) A member may not attend more than 50% of the meetings in a calendar year by means of electronic communication, unless the member's electronic participation is due to:
(a) Military service;
(b) Illness or other medical condition;
(c) Death of a relative; or
(d) An emergency involving actual or threatened injury to persons or property.
(2) For example, if there are 24 Council meetings in a calendar year, a member may not participate in more than 12 meetings electronically, unless one of the above exceptions applies.
(H) A member may not participate in a meeting by electronic communication if the governing body is attempting to take final action to:
(1) Adopt a budget;
(2) Make a reduction in personnel;
(3) Initiate a referendum;
(4) Establish or increase a fee;
(5) Establish or increase a penalty;
(6) Use the governing body's eminent domain authority; or
(7) Establish, raise, or renew a tax.
(I) (1) A governing body may not prohibit a member of the governing body from attending consecutive meetings by electronic communication. A member may attend two consecutive meetings (a set of meetings) by electronic communication. A member shall physically attend at least one meeting between sets of meetings that the member attends by electronic communication, unless the member's absence is due to:
(a) Military service;
(b) Illness or other medical condition;
(c) Death of a relative; or
(d) An emergency involving actual or threatened injury to persons or property.
(2) For example, a member may electronically attend a committee meeting and a Council meeting consecutively on the same day, but should attend the next committee or Council meeting in person.
(J) Notwithstanding the above, Councilmembers are not required to be physically present at a meeting until a disaster emergency declared by the Governor and/or the Mayor is terminated. During such emergency, the Council shall follow the meeting procedures set forth in I.C. 5-14-1.5-3.7.
(Res. 8, 2021, passed 6-7-2021)