Commissioners halt reading of emailed comments during public meetings

Time is an asset Westmoreland County commissioners said they can no longer waste.

Starting next year, commissioners will save some of it by no longer listening to emailed comments at the start of each public meeting.

“It is time constraints, and we do have back-to-back meetings,” Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher said. “And I think this will actually be better because anything submitted by email will be printed out and put here on the tables and anybody can get a copy of the public minutes.”

Residents who attend the monthly meetings at the courthouse will continue to be allowed to make three-minute presentations to commissioners, officials said.

County officials started to read emailed public comments after in-person attendance at meetings was discouraged during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

Starting in January, emailed comments will be printed and made available for public viewing at the meetings and will be added to formal minutes of each session and uploaded to the county website, Solicitor Melissa Guiddy said.

On Thursday, six residents commented at start of the commissioners’ meeting, including members from the Voice of Westmoreland, which for months has lobbied commissioners about how to spend $105 million in American Rescue Plan funds. One person attended the meeting dressed as Santa Claus and presented commissioners with a lump of coal for not yet having finalized a spending plan for the coronavirus relief cash.

Chief Clerk Vera Spina then spent a half-hour reading through a stack of similarly-themed comments from Voice of Westmoreland members and others that were received by email. The county received emailed comments from 32 residents. Commissioners halted the process after about 20 emails were read.

“I actually prefer to read public comments in a written form,” Commissioner Doug Chew said. “It’s easier for me to make notes and highlight.”

Commissioners insisted they have read every comment they receive by email and will continue to do so when they are no longer presented orally at public meetings.

“It’s a time matter. We brought this in because of the pandemic, and we’re having a lot of individuals come in and make public comments. They (emailed comments) will be here. They’ll be in the minutes, and they’ll be on the website,” Commissioner Sean Kertes said.