ANSONIA – The Board of Aldermen voted to leave the decision of whether to meet in person or online up to Josh Shuart, the board’s president.
The vote was 8 – 3, with Aldermen Steve Adamowski, Dan King and Bob Knot voting no. The vote happened during the Aldermen’s Dec. 12 meeting.
The board, like all governments across the U.S., started meeting online to conduct the public’s business during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
However, the Aldermen have continued the practice, often meeting online using Zoom instead of the meeting room in Ansonia City Hall.
Alderman Adamowski said meetings should be in person.
“I propose that we have all meetings in person at city hall unless there’s a reason like sickness or other situation that prevents use of Aldermanic Chambers,” Adamowski said. “I don’t think the remote meetings are fair to the public who don’t have the necessary technology (to join Zoom) and the quality of our discussion is much better if we are meeting in person. In-person meetings are a normal practice throughout our state now that the COVID pandemic is over. We don’t have any reasons why we would continue to extend the remote meetings.”
Shuart pointed out that more people attend virtual Aldermen meetings than in-person Aldermen meetings.
“We’ve never had better participation and attendance at our meetings since going to Zoom, and many other boards have stayed with Zoom,” Shuart said. “It opens up the access. If we are in the aldermanic chambers, there may be two people in attendance.”
Adamowski also said he would be okay with hybrid meetings, where the board meets in person at city hall, and also livestreams the meetings where the public who can’t make it in person has the option to watch online in real time.
Ansonia has a fish-eye type surveillance-like camera they use to record meetings. The Aldermen meetings are posted to YouTube, but are not streamed live.
In an email to The Valley Indy after the meeting, Shuart pointed out that in addition to reaching more people, the audio and video quality on Zoom is much better quality than the audio and video posted from in-person meetings.
“The recording-sound & video-we get and immediately post to the city website is miles superior to the overhead camera. I agree that it provides a more optimal experience – anyone, anywhere can participate. You can clearly see and hear who is talking. When we have guests beyond the board (developers, police, superintendent) it is hopefully more convenient for them,” Shuart said.
He said the Ansonia Planning and Zoning Commission is continuing to hold meetings online and have “better publicly attended meetings than ever before.”
Prior to the discussion, the board voted to reappoint Shuart as aldermanic president, a role he’s held since 2021. Shuart, a college professor at Sacred Heart University, represents the city’s Sixth Ward. He was first appointed to the board to fill a vacancy in September 2016 and was re-elected in 2017, 2019 and 2021.
The board also voted to keep its regular monthly meeting schedule the same. Meetings are held the second Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m.
