Western Springs Meetings Likely To Go Remote

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL — Western Springs Village President Alice Gallagher this week proposed that village meetings start going remote with the new year because of a surge in the pandemic.

Village trustees agreed with her idea.

"COVID has proven to be rather tenacious," Gallagher told the Village Board. "With omicron on the rise and hospital admissions increasing and overall cases in Illinois, I felt it would be prudent for us to return to a remote platform."

The new policy would apply to meetings of the Village Board and all village committees.

Through much of the pandemic, the village held remote meetings on a Zoom platform, but resumed in-person sessions in June.

Last week, Western Springs saw 43 new cases of the coronavirus, the highest weekly total since early January, according to the Cook County Public Health Department. Neighbors such as Hinsdale and La Grange are seeing similar hikes.

At Tuesday's board meeting, Gallagher said she wanted to get the pulse of the board on her proposal.

Trustee James Tyrrell was among those in agreement. He said it was the board's purpose to be in public, but "I think we just don't get the people here with the new variant, and everything you hear is that this could be serious."

Gallagher said more residents took part in the board's Zoom meetings than they have the in-person sessions.

Trustee Heidi Rudolph said the drawback of remote meetings was that the board could not see public commenters take part. She wondered whether the village could require commenters to turn on their cameras.

Gallagher said she did not think the village could mandate that people activate their cameras. Others said such a requirement may face logistical hurdles.

If Gallagher goes through with her proposal, the board would need to ratify it, the village attorney said.

This article originally appeared on the Western Springs Patch