How City Councils in Major Cities are Governing During COVID-19

April 10, 2020

The spread of the COVID-19 virus and the measures put in place to reduce the transmission of the virus have forced states and localities across the country to quickly adjust to a new way of governing. Either through executive-branch action or legislative changes to statutes, states have altered their laws surrounding open meetings in an effort to allow state and local governments to continue to govern transparently while also promoting social distancing.

On March 16, 2020 Illinois Governor JB Pritzker issued Executive Order 2020-07 suspending certain provisions of the Open Meetings Act requiring in-person attendance by members of the public body and lessening the conditions that must be met in order for a member of the public body to attend the meeting remotely, such as the requirement that a physical presence quorum for members of a public body. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has provided further guidance to public bodies on how to comply with the Open Meetings Act and the Freedom of Information Act during this pandemic.

On March 17, 2020, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot issued a press release announcing the Chicago City Council meeting scheduled for March 18, 2020 was postponed to April 15, 2020 due to Governor Pritzker’s executive order limiting the size of public gatherings. The press release stated the administration will work with the City Council to develop a plan for proceeding on key legislation. It has been reported that the City of Chicago is preparing to hold its first virtual City Council meeting on April 15, 2020 via Zoom with public participation conducted via telephone. The Council is also scheduled to meet April 22, 2020. The City Council could vote on matters related to emergency rules and the appointment of a new police superintendent in the coming weeks. The City Council just began live streaming its committee meetings in September 2019.

Other local governments in the Chicago area have already convened remotely, including the Chicago Board of Education and other smaller local governments, such as the city councils of the City of Joliet and City of Rockford.

So how are other major cities across the country conducting public meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic?

In Seattle, the City Council has been meeting remotely, via Skype, since March 9 of this year. Other major cities have followed suit in recent weeks, including Dallas, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, among others.

The table below provides a comparison of how governing boards of other selected major cities have been holding public meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic. All selected major cities that have conducted virtual public meetings have broadcast the meeting through multiple mediums and allowed for multiple ways for the public to continue to participate and provide public comment during these meetings.

While the governors of Illinois and New York have both allowed for local governments to meet remotely during the pandemic, the Chicago City Council and City Council of New York City have not met since the governors of both states have declared a state of emergency in their respective states. One of the challenges the Chicago City Council and New York City Council face is the sheer size of their councils (50 and 51 members, respectively), compared to other cities like Los Angeles and Philadelphia, which only have 15 and 17 council members, respectively.

While a number of local governments are conducting meetings under the authority of gubernatorial executive orders, the State of Minnesota already had legislation in place allowing for remote meetings as long as certain conditions were met, such as a health pandemic. In Arizona, the Attorney General issued an informal opinion clarifying that the Open Meeting Law permits a public body to hold a remote meeting through technological means.

How Selected Major U.S. Cities are Governing During COVID-19
City	Remote Meeting Platform	How Public Can Attend Meeting	How Public Comment is Conducted	Held Remote Meeting	Authority to Conduct          Remote Meetings
Boston	Zoom	television, online live stream	email and written comments	Yes	Executive Order
Chicago	-	-	-	No	Executive Order 2020-07
Dallas	WebEx	telephone, television, online live stream	email, voicemail, video message	Yes	Texas Government Code Section 418.016
Los Angeles	Zoom	telephone, online live stream	call-in and written comments	Yes	Executive Order N-25-20
Minneapolis	Other Online Platform	television, online live stream	email, voicemail, video message	Yes	Minnesota Statutes, Section 13D.021
New York	-	-	-	No	Executive Order 202.1
Philadelphia	Microsoft Teams	television, online live stream	call-in	Yes	Joint Order from the Office of the Mayor and the Department of Public Health
Phoenix	WebEx	telephone, television, online live stream,	call-in and written comments	Yes	Office of Attorney General, State of Arizona
Seattle	Skype	telephone, television, online live stream	email and written comments	Yes	Proclamation No. 20-05

State legislatures across the country are facing similar challenges as they hurry to enact legislation and changes in rules to allow for some form of remote meeting and vote casting. The Illinois House of Representatives is scheduled to return April 21, but it has been reported that lawmakers may not meet until June. A number of other state legislatures have also temporarily closed or adjourned early due to COVID-19, while other state legislative bodies, such as the Pennsylvania State Legislature, have met remotely to conduct business.