Statement to Board of Supervisors- January 21, 2020

My name is Barbara Thomas and I am an official observer of County meetings for the League of Women Voters of Saratoga County, as well as one of our Co-Presidents.

I was present at the Organizational Meeting of this body on January 2, 2020 but the only parts of the Chair’s remarks that I was able to hear were “goals” and “round of applause.” I had no idea what the goals were or who we were applauding, and neither did most of the audience.

Therefore, I call on the Board of Supervisors to comply with the spirit of the open meetings law, which is to allow members of the public to observe the actions of official bodies so that they can know what their elected officials are doing. I call on each of the supervisors to use a microphone every time they speak. I suggest that the clerks of the board be tasked with interrupting any supervisor who doesn’t speak into the microphone by reminding the supervisor to “speak into the mic.”

I call on the Chair to be aware that none of the audience is in a position to see the faces of all the Supervisors, so they cannot always tell who is speaking. Therefore, I call for the Chair to announce the supervisor they wish to recognize, by saying “The Chair recognizes Mr/Ms Blank.”

The Chair can be of assistance to both the public and the other Supervisors by always announcing what a vote is on, for example, “ we are now voting on the amendment.”

A suggestion which the League has made in the past, which is still relevant, is to make a videocast of Board of Supervisors’ proceedings available on the website. Most County residents cannot attend meetings of the Board of Supervisors and this would be a great service to them.