by Madison White Franks
IRVINGTON—Members of the Irvington planning commission on November 6 continued discussions on how to interact with town citizens online. The goal is to be more transparent.
Council liaison Jackie Brown reported on related discussion at a recent town council meeting. At that time, town attorney Nancyellen Keane expressed reservations with having more than two commission members participating in an online forum.
“In that case, it becomes an electronic meeting and must be advertised,” said Brown. “It does not work for FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) rules.”
Under FOIA, a meeting is defined as having more than two members of a public body present, Keane later confirmed.
“If it had more than two, then it would be considered a meeting and could not be handled as a blog because…