At a special meeting on Monday that will include just one agenda item, the Hudson County Board of Commissioners will vote if they should close their chambers and switch their meetings to an all remote format out of an abundance of caution.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“The purpose of this emergency meeting is to discuss issues of public safety and security for County employees and county elected officials, and to vote on a resolution calling for the temporary closure of the Chambers of the Hudson County Board of Commissioners for public meeting purposes until further notice,” the emergency meeting notice says.
According to Anthony Vainieri (D-8), the chair of the board, the insurrection at Capitol Hill was part of what spurned the decision to hold a short meeting at 4 p.m. on Monday.
“We’re going to vote on whether or not we need to do any public meetings in the chambers until further notice,” he said this afternoon.
“With, what’s going on in this country, with the COVID-19 pandemic still here and with rioters taking over public buildings in DC, we should be cautious,” he continued, noting that the county will be evaluating their security plans in the event of a worst case scenario.
Governing bodies convening remote only has been commonplace in Hudson County since the pandemic hit, with nearly every city council, board of commissioners, and board of education meeting via Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and other streaming services.
Monday’s commissioners meeting can be accessed at this link, using this ID: 895 7505 7240.
