Speaker 0: No. Arts Council Resolution 281 has been adopted. All right, Madam Secretary, if you could please put the next item on our screens. And, Councilmember Torres, if you please put Bill to 82 on the floor.
Speaker 1: I move the council bill to 82, be ordered published.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember. It has been moved and seconded. We're going to questions and comments on this one. And I'll just start by saying, you know, again, as we enter uncharted territory and as there are new recommendations coming from the CDC and from our public health officials, every day, we have been trying to dove in and look at what might happen, what could happen and be prepared for those situations. One of the things that exists for us now is that even if we were to decide that it was in the best interest of public health, that this body not meet, and that is not something that we have decided as of yet or that is planned . But in any situation that might lead to that. R And to still require that we come someone come down and open that meeting, take attendance, show that there is not a quorum of us here to conduct that meeting and then close the meeting, which has happened a couple of times over the course of the last four years before we, you know, fixed some of the weeks that we don't meet, the four weeks of the year that we don't meet. We had a couple of times where so many people were out of town on, you know, family stuff that we had to do just that. And so as we're grappling with, you know, our open meeting rules with what's in the charter about how we conduct our business, this was one of the things that was identified that we can fix. It will take two readings. So we're introducing it today and we'll have it again next week. But that allows for in an emergency situation for the cancelation or suspension of a meeting without our secretary coming down here to do that often with, you know, any members who are available only to determine that there is no need for a meeting. So that's kind of the crux of this as we move forward, you know, continue to identify ways and places where we can adapt. I think there's a broader conversation that this particular issue has shown a light on that we that that we need to look at, you know, from a code we participate not in this room. And what does that look like from access to the public? Could the public participate in something that needed to move forward without being in this room? And, you know, other cities have taken action to amend their charter and allow for virtual participation or amend their open meeting rules. And I think that's something that we need to take a good look at. Doing that quickly and on the fly as we're doing it is hard and we want to make sure that we get that right because there's a lot that goes into that beyond just the current situation that we're in. But as we work through that, if we continue to identify places that can be fixed, that do make sense and can or couched in areas like during periods of emergency that give us some increased flexibility items like this that we can continue to bring forward. You know, I also want to just thank some of our colleagues who were not here today as we continue to also heed the recommendations of our public health officials. And out of, you know, the phrase that I think we're all getting sick of hearing, but out of an abundance of caution, we have some members who are not here this evening. And I think we're going to have to continue to grapple with how do we conduct business and make sure that we are able to do that. And part of that is making sure that, you know, when someone feels that they should or should not be here, that enough of us are here to continue conducting that business. But one of the members who wasn't here, you know, really has some questions about how do we not just at this meeting, but get getting updates from the administration on stuff like we were just talking about about what kind of funding is coming through, what kind of programs are there, what needs legislative action and all of this? How can we help? How can we assist? How can we work as a team? So we'll continue to look at outside of the tight confines that we're in. From a charter perspective for this meeting, are there other opportunities for us to get updates, briefings that don't require people to be in the same room outside of this meeting? And how do we navigate that? So certainly the beginning of conversations to come, but this was one part that gives us some some flexibility under certain scenarios that we may or may not face in the coming weeks. All right, Councilmember Sawyer.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I couldn't have put it better. That was a great kind of summation of the conversations that we have had over the past week. And I think it's really important, you know, for the public who hasn't been able to be a part of those conversations as readily to kind of catch people up on on what is happening. So so, you know, because this is an emergency, because we are in an emergency that none of us expected to be a part of. You know, I think it's important that both of these rules be moved forward and be adopted tonight. That said, I think that when we are no longer in an emergency, we need to go back and have some serious discussions about what these look like and how we move forward from here. Because I do think that we need to talk about things like remote participation. And if we had talked about remote participation before now, we would be able to remotely participate now, and that would be fantastic so that we wouldn't have to be here and having these conversations right now. We wouldn't have to all be in this in this room. There are precedents across the state for remote participation. It's something we could be doing. And it's a shame that the that we've got members who can't be here tonight for various reasons and who, you know and and who should be able to participate. If we had done this earlier and had these conversations previously, we they would be able to be here. So I am I am supportive of putting forth both of these rules this evening, both of these ordinances and establishing them. But I'm also suspicious of them. I think that they are they are being put in place fast. They are being put in place without the kind of full, broad spectrum discussion that we probably need to have around them. And I think that we need to make sure that we go back and have that discussion and make some changes to these when we're no longer in an emergency. And I just want to make sure that that's on record. So thank you, Mr. President.
Speaker 0: Thank Councilmember Councilmember Gilmore.
Speaker 6: Thank you, President Clark. I am in full support of of this bill tonight and putting it forward. I think that we do need to have more conversation about what the tools are at our fingertips fingertips now. And I have talked with Kirsten Crawford, our city attorney, and asked her to put together a legal memo, at least identifying the top two or three next steps that we could maybe evaluate, especially with our committee structure. Could we do some sort of remote committee structure so that at least there's transparency for the public to see what's happening within city government or what those other tools may be? We don't need to speculate on what those are tonight, but if we're really looking at another eight weeks of restrictions, the public does deserve to know what is going on and have access to that. And I just want to be able to explore what our options are. Thank you, President Clark.
Speaker 0: I think Councilmember. Councilmember Hines.
Speaker 5: Thank you, Mr. President. I've just learned from one of our colleagues who isn't here tonight that the CDC has revised its guidance once again and and says that there should be no more than ten people in a room at a time, which would make our meetings difficult just to and not violate the CDC guidelines. Of course, this is a very fluid conversation since the CDC issued their other guidelines for 50 people, I think, on Friday or Thursday. So we're we're moving very, very quickly. And I want to recognize Councilperson Sawyers comments about we should think about this at some point in the future when we're not having we're not basically up against a wall. But I do have a question for Ms.. Crawford. Would it be possible for us to add a placeholder for open public virtual meetings for council and not have that defined since we're changing the ordinance with this build to 82? I mean, should we amend it and add that tonight or should we wait?
Speaker 1: So I think I understand the question. Kirsten Crawford Legislative Council under three point to 3.3.2 of the Charter. There are very rigid requirements that apply to regular Monday meetings. So the only way we've been able to thread the needle to make less rigidity is to talk about the schedule. The charter used to provide the council had to meet shall meet 52 weeks. We changed the charter to make observance. We to make accommodations through ordinance for observance of holidays. We are not alone with our rigidities. There are some other large cities both in Colorado and nationwide that have some of these rigidities. I do think there is a possibility to go fairly quickly to virtual meetings when it comes to any other sort of body or council committee, for example. It's not without complications, but it can be done. It's a very large policy debate, but there we've become a little bit focused on one tool in the toolbox, virtual participation, when I think there are many others that still need to be explored. And that's one of the conversations I've had with Councilwoman Gilmore. And those conversations are occurring throughout the city. So so we will be coming forward with more proposals to allow accommodations.
Speaker 5: Great. Thank you, Ms.. Crawford. And thank you, Mr. President.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember. All right, see no other questions or comments, Madam Secretary. Roll call on accountability to wait to.
Speaker 1: Clark I.
Speaker 6: Gilmore, I.
Speaker 5: Herndon High.
Speaker 3: Cashman.
Speaker 0: High.
Speaker 3: Can each.
Speaker 1: Sawyer I Taurus I Council President.
Speaker 0: All right, Madam Secretary, please close the voting. Announce the results. Nine ice nine accountable to eight to has passed. That concludes the items to be called out this evening. All bills for introduction are ordered published. Councilmembers remember that this is a consent or block vote and you will need to vote I. Otherwise, this is your last chance to call an item out for a separate vote. Councilmember Torres, will you please put the resolutions for adoption and the bills on final consideration for final passage on the floor?
Speaker 1: I move that the resolutions be adopted and bills on final consideration be placed on final consideration and do pass in the bloc for the following items. 20 Dash 220 Dash 149 20 Series 150151204036194 199 177 to 10 two 7141, one, 63 and 047.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember. It has been moved and seconded. Madam Secretary, roll call.
Speaker 1: Black eye.
Speaker 3: Gilmore. I heard.
Speaker 4: It. Hi.
Speaker 5: Hi. Hi.
Speaker 3: Cashman. Hi. Carnage.
Speaker 1: Sawyer, I. Torres, I.
Speaker 3: Council President.
Speaker 0: Hi, Madam Secretary. Please call the voting notes. The results.
Speaker 3: Nine eyes.
Speaker 0: Nine eyes. The resolutions have been adopted and the bills have been placed upon final consideration and do pass. Council will not take a recess this evening. Councilmember Torres, will you please put council bills? One of five, one of six and one of seven on the floor.
A bill for an ordinance authorizing suspension or cancelation of regular council meetings during periods of emergency.
Authorizes the suspension or cancelation of regular council meetings during periods of emergency. Councilmember Clark approved direct filing this item on 3-13-20.