COVID-19 shut down everything in March, including local government, and it altered Connecticut’s open meeting law, forcing governments to figure out how to hold a public hearing via Zoom.
“To be frank it was quite a learning curve. We give credit to municipalities in terms of taking this on and finding pathways to see what works for them,” said Jonathan Wharton, associate dean of the school of graduate and professional studies at Southern Connecticut State University.
Wharton and Jodie Gil, a journalism professor at the university, surveyed 95 Connecticut cities and towns about how they conducted their meetings.
