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Their only purpose on the call is to transact the public business by gaining information. It should be accessible to all, he said . Tadych, who is also counsel to the North Carolina Press Association and whose firm represents The News & Observer, said it doesn't matter if DHHS calls the meeting. g " They 're not there to talk about the nonexistent football game," he said. " There aren't any other reasons to get together." "We're here talking about a global pandemic; we need to err on the side of openness," he said. BIG DECISIONS, POTENTIAL LIABILITY The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners is seeking flexibility from the General Assembly on open meeting laws and remote participation. Specifically, Kevin Leonard, the association's executive director, told the legislature that the open meetings laws are vague on whether votes and public comments have to be done in person . He is also seeking a temporary modification to the law that would allow a shorter public notice period of meetings to allow action to be taken quicker. The League of Municipalities also sought clarification on holding remote meetings or public hearings. �G I The league's chief legislative counsel, Erin Wynia, addressed the league 's concerns Tuesday in a meeting of the House Committee on COVID -19 Continuity of State Operations . " The state law is not clear on this and it's one of the first issues that surfaced a few weeks ago," Wynia said. " The types of meetings we're talking about are full council meetings , their board meetings, as well as public hearings." I The league's president, William Pitt, also asked lawmakers in a letter to consider providing "legal and regulatory flexibility" to hold remote meetings. He noted that this time of year is important for cities ' officials to meet because they are mandated to balance their budget by July 1 and now they have to do it without knowing whether their normal revenue streams still exist. In a blog post, N.C. School of Government Professor Freyda Bluestein noted that neither the governor nor county or city officials have authority to waive statutory requirements and that lawmakers left open to interpretations whether a quorum means that elected officials need to be physically present to vote or whether they can meet electronically. She said if these boards fail to comply it could leave them open to a lawsuit and a judge would then have to interpret the law. BOARDS MEET REMOTELY She added that in most circumstances, city and county boards can authorize their appointed boards to meet electronically. That's something being done within Orange County. "If we're asking the public to stay at home and work from home we feel like we need to do the same," said Kristin Prelipp, spokesperson for the Orange County Health Department. The department is using GoToMeeting, a platform like Google Hangouts or Zoom, but that is compliant with medical privacy laws .