Kodiak's Assembly can't agree on how often to meet remotely

Kodiak Island Borough Assembly members cannot agree on how many meetings a year they should be allowed to join remotely, the last unsettled question in a rewrite of the body's rules on electronic participation.

The clerk laid out where everyone stands in a memo built from survey responses, not votes. Three members would keep the current cap of four meetings a year. Jeremiah Gardner and Steven Ames want six to eight. Jeffery Woods wants nine to 12, but says no member should attend more than two meetings in a row remotely.

Bo Whiteside went a different direction entirely, proposing that remote privileges depend on where a member lives, so that members from outlying villages would get access that members in Kodiak would not. One member has asked the borough attorney whether a rule that treats members differently by residence is even legal.

On everything else, they agree. Remote participants would not count toward a quorum. Attendance would need a specific reason rather than a general one. No more than three members could appear remotely at any one meeting, and five members insisted it be video, not just audio. The code already bars remote attendance during executive sessions.

The rewrite goes to a work session Thursday, meant to close out the one remaining disagreement. Three members brought the request to loosen the rules in July.