Selectmen to Mull Remote Meeting Participation

Could Sharon start seeing more committee members joining meetings by phone? If a request by the board of assessors is approved, it’s possible.

With a letter to the Sharon selectmen from the Attorney General’s office saying they could approve it, the accessors would like to be able to have members participate in meetings by phone if they are unable to attend. 

Selectman Joe Roach however had concerns with the idea of committe and board members participating in meetings by phone.

“What I’m worried about is, is having a conference call. I think it takes away from the meeting personally. You make a commitment to be on these committees and I understand that not everybody can make all of the meetings, but I think it loses something in the government when you do it by phone,” Roach said.

In the case of the assessors, a three-member board, two members would still have to be present to form a quorum before the third member could call in.

Town administrator Ben Puritz said he is looking into the issue by researching what other towns have for their policy.

Selectman Richard Powell agreed that more research should be done before a decision is made.

“There’s some boards where you may have more justification than others so I think we need to get a little more information,” Powell said.

The selectmen will return to the issue at a future meeting.