Our View: Pros and cons of online meetings could be better

Every crisis results in changes. Floods alter the flow of rivers. Volcanoes can move mountains. After 9/11, the invasive screening process at airports we accept as “normal” were implemented here. And while it’s still too early to tell how life will look post-COVID-19, we are pleased to see government is taking its open meeting requirements so seriously during this pandemic.

Open meetings are essential to good government. Enough happens behind the scenes as it is, and with news outlets such as newspapers becoming scarcer, the public has less ability to monitor what our elected officials are doing. In this age of instant information, we should not settle for less openness in government.

Fortunately, we don’t have to. Not only is the Pine Knot News committed to watch local government in action, citizens can watch most meetings online now, as officials attend remotely, using such applications as Zoom and Facebook Live.

These “new normals” still have some kinks to work out, though. While our Cloquet City Council meetings are live online and are archived on its website so we can go back and watch old meetings any time, public participation has been somewhat hindered by the inability to attend meetings in person. Dialing in can be confusing, and some citizens don’t have the technological ability to attend online because they either don’t have internet at home or their internet connection is inadequate. Still, the Cloquet system (which was put in place about a year ago, pre-pandemic) is pretty good.

The Cloquet schools have been holding their board meetings live on YouTube, but those meetings now get deleted afterwards. That shouldn’t happen. The Carlton County board meetings are available online, although there have been some issues with accessibility during meetings. Thomson Township’s recent meeting was also similarly hard to access, with poor reception and scratchy audio. Those issues dampen public participation, and need to be corrected.

But we applaud their efforts. As access to government meetings evolves, we hope public participation becomes easier, especially for older citizens, for example, who are used to attending meetings in person, or those without decent internet access.

It remains to be seen if COVID-19 will result in a permanent change in the way we attend public meetings. But for now, we are pleased local government officials are taking the open meeting laws seriously. Their responsibility to be accountable to the public is obvious, and we are pleased that they are taking action to make sure we can attend, watch, and participate in local government.