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Motion of the Council of Allegheny County expressing the sense of Council regarding returning to regular attendance practices for regular meetings of Allegheny County Council.
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WHEREAS, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and rising case numbers within Allegheny County, Allegheny County Council opted to begin conducting meetings remotely via telecommunications equipment in the Spring of 2020; and
WHEREAS, this action was entirely consistent with the Commonwealth and County declarations of emergency, guidance from the County and Commonwealth Departments of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control, as well as with the practices of other municipal government bodies; and
WHEREAS, in the months since Council began conducting meetings remotely, the Council has performed its legislative functions, although in the judgment of several of the Council members, the use of technological means to facilitate remote meetings does present certain logistical challenges; and
WHEREAS, at the time of introduction of this Motion, Allegheny County’s COVID-19 new case rate appears to be falling to some extent; and
WHEREAS, also at the time of introduction of this Motion, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is in the process of providing COVID-19 vaccines to its residents, and has fully vaccinated just over 11% of its population, with vaccination rates continuing to increase; and
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf recently announced that the Commonwealth’s restrictions on public gatherings will be eased, effective April 4, noting that “Pennsylvanians have stepped up and done their part to help curb the spread of covid-19. Our case counts continue to go down, hospitalizations are declining, and the percent positivity rate gets lower every week - all very positive signs….The number of people getting vaccinated increases daily, and we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. It’s time to allow our restaurants, bars and other service businesses to get back to more normal operations.”; and
WHEREAS, it is the recommendation of the sponsor that the Council should strongly consider following this trend, with the goal of returning to normal meeting attendance practices for regular meetings beginning in April of 2021;
The Council of the County of Allegheny therefore hereby moves as follows:
The members of Allegheny County Council are hereby encouraged to consider returning to in-person attendance for regular meetings of Council, beginning with the meeting scheduled for April 13, 2021. It is further recommended that the Council continue following social distancing, masking, and other recommendations made by the Centers for Disease Control, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and the Allegheny County Health Department during its public meetings.