Dear Faculty,
As many of you know, one of Governor Newsom’s recent executive orders allows public meetings to take place virtually. As a result, the YCCD Board has moved its meetings online, including tonight’s Board Meeting. Though the Executive Order allows for relaxed rules, it also preserves the public’s right to comment via teleconference or videoconference, in real time.
The original agenda distributed earlier this week stated that people who wanted to participate in the public comment section of the meeting must submit their comments via email to the Board Stenographer no later than yesterday, April 7th, at 5pm.
YFA unequivocally supports the public’s right to comment during YCCD Board meetings in real time. Since Monday, YFA has been vehemently advocating to the Chancellor and the Board to protect and provide that right. In response to YFA’s concerns, the Chancellor’s office has extended the deadline to submit requests to give comments at tonight’s meeting until 2:45pm today.
While YFA sees this as a step in the right direction, we remain committed to having public comments accepted in real time. This expectation is essential to facilitate participatory governance and the public’s right to be heard. It is also feasible technologically, as Zoom includes functionality to accept public comments from participants during the appropriate section of the meeting and properly facilitate a meeting. YFA will continue to advocate for the District to implement this capability for tonight’s meeting and future virtual meetings.
If you are interested in making public comments tonight, please submit your request and your comments by 2:45 pm today via the email address provided in the agenda: BoardPublicComment@yosemite.edu.
Tonight’s Board Agenda is accessible at: https://go.boarddocs.com/ca/yosemite/Board.nsf/vpublic?open
Open Session begins at 5:30 pm tonight and will be live streamed at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0Z03X9tOM4A28TH7ChQWvQ
In service & solidarity,
Shelley Akiona
YFA President
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