Even in the shadow of a shelter-in-place order and encouragement from municipal government to work from home, the Travis County Commissioners Court will still hold its session on March 24. As usual, the meeting will be aired on public access channel 17 but this week, all participants will be virtual with the exception of County Judge Sarah Eckhardt, who will preside over the meeting in the Commissioners Courtroom on Lavaca Street. The Texas Open Meetings Act requires the presiding officer of the governmental body to be physically present at a meeting held by videoconference call. There will also be a live online stream to access the meeting. Though the meeting will begin at 9 a.m., commissioners will not take general public comment. All public comments at the March 24 meeting must pertain to an item on the agenda, Travis County Public Information Officer Hector Nieto told the Austin Monitor. General citizen communication, he said, is an optional agenda item. Citizens who would like to sign up for an agenda item will need to do so by dialing in on the phone and waiting in the telephonic queue. To speak on an agenda item, individuals should call (866) 393-8749 and enter the following meeting ID: 149-100-895. “As we continue to adjust our daily lives for COVID-19, it is imperative we also adjust your local government,” said Nieto in a release. He told the Monitor, “We will continue to do it this way until further notice.”
Travis County Commissioners Court will take place virtually
