Trustees Can't Vote While Attending Meetings Remotely

Village Trustee who participate in a board meeting remotely while out of town, on vacation or home sick can still do so via video or audio conferencing.

But their vote won’t be counted.

An absent trustee or village president who misses a meeting won’t be counted in the quorum and cannot vote, thanks to a new village ordinance passed by the Village Board on Tuesday.

Village Attorney John Macy said allowing members who are participating remotely vote could open the village up to legal challenges and litigation because those members likely aren’t receiving all the information those physically present are.

Examples include a trustee who calls in wouldn’t be able to see a PowerPoint presentation (unless the trustee received it in advance) or might not be able to tell who’s talking at any given time.

“Having missed a couple of meetings myself, you don’t get to set the body language and the passion that’s going on,” President John Hermes said.

Trustee Al Sikorski, who sometimes misses meetings while traveling for work, said he’ll still get up at 2 a.m. to participate in the meetings even if he can’t vote.

Trustee Sally Chadwick, who voted against the ordinance, said the village should be considering what it would cost to make video conferencing more efficient, and then draft the policy to allow that type of participation.

“Let’s see how much it costs, because that is the way of the future,” she said. “I think Greendale is progressive enough to realize that we should set some precedents. I think its important to have the cameras and things and Skype. That’s where we’re going.”