Naperville could be moving toward fully in-person council meetings

Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico is advocating to shift public meetings from a hybrid format to fully in person as soon as is appropriate under state COVID-19 guidelines.

In addition to bringing all council members together under one roof, the move would require residents and community members to be physically present in the council chambers to provide public comment, Chirico said.

Since the onset of the pandemic, Naperville public meetings have been conducted entirely or partially virtually, with speakers able to participate by phone or over Zoom. Council meetings moved into a hybrid format last month, allowing both elected officials and members of the public to choose whether to attend in person or remotely.

But Gov. J.B. Pritzker earlier this week indicated Illinois could be close to moving into a "bridge" stage between current COVID-19 restrictions and a full reopening, potentially easing the capacity limits for meetings and other activities. Naperville officials are now waiting on further direction from the state.

"If it's clear in his order that the intent is to bring these types of public meetings back to normal, I suggest we follow that," Chirico told the council Tuesday. "It's very difficult to run public meetings on different platforms."

Chirico said he supports continuing to allow written comments, as well as statements of support or opposition for an issue, to be submitted electronically and included as part of the public record. That practice was adopted during the pandemic to offer alternative methods for public engagement, but the written statements are no longer read aloud during meetings due to volume and time constraints.

A proposed mask mandate and a resolution regarding the council's position on state police reform legislation were among the issues brought forward this past winter that generated dozens of written feedback, in addition to live speakers, resulting in public comment periods that would last for hours.

Council members decided in February to keep incorporating written comments into their official record, even when in-person meetings resume and restrictions are lifted.

"The fact that we're allowing them to participate in a way we didn't before is a good thing, and I think we should still do that," Chirico said Tuesday.

Though in support of exploring a return to full in-person meetings, Councilman Patrick Kelly asked the city to proceed with caution, pointing to members of the public who have yet to be vaccinated or do not feel comfortable leaving their homes yet.

"I'd like to see if we can give people the most amount of time possible here before we make that hard transition," he said.

City Manager Doug Krieger said staff members will monitor and analyze guidance from the governor, as well as public health officials, to determine whether a fully in-person meeting would be feasible later this month or into June.