It’s disappointing to see the City Council in Jersey City return to in-person meetings with no way for interested residents to participate virtually.
An actual bright spot of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the increased ability for the public to participate in government meetings. It’s not only people who would normally have gone to City Hall; it’s also people, particularly women in the sandwich generation, who may have wanted to all along but just couldn’t.
If this were the 1918 pandemic and in-person meetings were the only way to guarantee any public input in Frank Hague’s government, we’d be applauding the return. More voices will mean better government – if, of course, those voices don’t fall on deaf ears. We have been troubled in recent years by efforts, including at the Jersey City Council, to stifle public comment. The amount of time each speaker has to address certain bodies, for example, has been decreased. Even then, the disinterest on elected representatives’ faces is clear.