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It&rsquo;s good news that Wilkes-Barre City Council is working on a way to have live participation at its next virtual public meeting. We laud the many efforts at holding public meetings without public attendance since the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered so many of us in our homes. But they have been imperfect, to say the least, and need big improvements.
				Since the surge of virtual meetings began, our reporters have run into a wide range of attempts (or lack thereof) to include the public in a meeting. Some have been considerably less effective than others.
				The basic approach so far has been to release an agenda in advance and require comments on the agenda to be submitted ahead of the meeting via email or some other internet app. But that is clearly just a start. Agendas change. Items get tabled. Others get added at the last minute. Some agendas go online with blank spaces where names are to be filled in during the meeting (always a questionable approach even at in-person meetings).
				Taxpayers deserve more opportunity to comment during a meeting. Many government bodies have attempted to do that by accepting email questions during the meeting. Others have employed &ldquo;raise your hand&rdquo; or other features for instant feedback built into the virtual conferencing software they are using.
				Luzerne County Council has used a phone connection system during it&rsquo;s meetings, one of the options Wilkes-Barre is looking into, according to a story by staff writer Jerry Lynott.
				Lynott&rsquo;s story also noted the language of a state advisory regarding the legal need to include public comment may not be absolutely precise but seems clear enough in intent on this point, requiring governments to provide direct public participation &ldquo;to the extent practicable.&rdquo;
				It seems clear that, for most if not all government bodies, there is a &ldquo;practicable&rdquo; way to make public comment more immediate at these virtual meetings.
				Reporters have seen meetings where would-be participants were required to register via email to get a link to log into the session. This should be a clear no-no. It&rsquo;s akin to requiring a person to get a ticket to a meeting. Even if the ticket is free, it&rsquo;s an unacceptable arrangement. Taxpayers have every right to be able to walk in &mdash; literally on a whim, if they happen to be passing &mdash; on any public government meeting.
				Providing access info online has also been a bit spotty, largely because of the range of options government face in getting out the word. If one puts a notice and link on its Facebook page but not on it&rsquo;s website, or if one sends a link out via email or text alert but doesn&rsquo;t provide it via a more open platform, they aren&rsquo;t doing enough. If an agenda is shown online during a meeting but wasn&rsquo;t posted for download prior to it, a mistake has been made.
				This is in no way a criticism of what government bodies have done so far. They deserve praise for figuring out ways to keep holding meetings and casting votes while allowing the public to sit in with no one physically meeting in any one place. This is, rather, a reminder that the system first put in place can always be improved.
				In all things, governments should rarely settle for status quo, looking instead for the ways to make their services more effective, efficient and accessible. Virtual public meetings are no exception. In fact, they are a great place to constantly seek improvement.
				&#8211; Times Leader

Our view: Plenty of room for improvement of virtual meetings