CLICK BELOW TO HEAR JACK HALL’S INTERVIEW WITH MAYOR MARC TALL
CLICK BELOW TO HEAR JACK HALL’S INTERVIEW WITH CITY CLERK PHIL DEMAY.
Escanaba’s city council will meet Thursday night, but not in the usual way. Mayor Marc Tall says it will be a virtual meeting, something approved by Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s executive order that allows for on-line public meetings in the wake of the coronavirus.
Thursday’s meeting, which includes a public hearing on the 2021 Fiscal Year city budget, will be held with a Facebook video stream and a special phone number for people to call to make public comments.
“There are council people who will be calling in from home, with the video off of their computers,” Escanaba Mayor Marc Tall said. “I expect that I will be at city hall, but in a room completely separated from anyone else who wants to take part in this meeting. “During our usual public comment periods, and during our public hearing (on the budget), we will allow for public comment.”
The city manager and city clerk will take part in the virtual meeting, along with the five council members.
“The obstacle that we had was how do we hold this meeting, and allow the public to be involved with it, in an easily-accessible way,” Escanaba City Clerk Phil DeMay said. “I believe that a good portion of our population has Facebook. So, we’re going to stream live at 7 p.m. We’re going to cross our fingers and hope that everything works well. It’s the first time we’ve ever done this, so we’ll hope for the best.”
Earlier this week, Gladstone’s City Commission held its meeting in chambers, but the public was not allowed to attend. It was streamed live on YouTube.
Tall says as far as the city budget process goes, this is just one of five scheduled chances for you to give comments.
“There will be meetings next week on Monday, Tuesday, and possibly Wednesday, at which time the council will be going over the budget, page by page, and asking questions, and getting ideas clarified,” Tall said.
Thursday night’s meeting starts at 7:00. You can watch on-line on Facebook. The details are posted below, and on www.escanaba.org.
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