KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Commissioners in the City of Kalamazoo are discussing a return to in-person meetings next month, according to City Manager Jim Ritsema.
Ritsema brought up the matter during a virtual Board of Commissioners meeting Monday night, which was also the last meeting of the month.
“The plan right now is for our staff to come back at the next Commission meeting with a recommendation on how that will work,” Ritsema said.
It won’t be an automatic transition, as the Commission has instituted changes during the pandemic that may be continued. Integrating them into live meetings will take time and technology.
If all goes as planned, in-person meetings would resume at City Hall on July 19.
“We look forward to seeing each other in person again and getting back to whatever the new normal looks like,” Ritsema added.
The commission had been on schedule to continue zoom meetings through August, but the early lifting of restrictions will make that unnecessary.
While some boards have held hybrid meetings, and others erected plastic screens at their seats, City Commissioners haven’t been in the same room for a year and a half.
The first virtual meeting held by the City at the start of the pandemic last year was marked by “Zoom Bombers,” who interrupted the meeting with vulgar messages and racial slurs.
Since then, all comments have been required to be pre-recorded by callers in order to be played during public comment periods.
The Board will discuss returning to live sessions at their next meeting.
— John McNeil contributed to this reporting. —
Comments