Reimagining Public Participation During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down County buildings in March 2020, every board and committee meeting came to a halt.

Yet government operations couldn’t simply stop — and residents still needed a safe, reliable way to participate.

At the time, I was managing meeting coordination as part of my role in the Communications department. Committees began emailing me almost immediately, asking: How do we keep meeting? How do residents speak? How do we comply with public meeting laws?

What began as a crisis response quickly evolved into a major systems-design project that became my primary responsibility for 18 months. The workflows, forms, and tools I developed are still used today.

The Challenge

Transitioning public meetings to virtual and hybrid formats created challenges on multiple levels:

• No existing process for virtual public comment

• No system to handle hybrid attendance

• Strict public-health capacity limits

• Limited HTV (broadcast) availability

• Dozens of committees with different technical needs

• Legal and accessibility requirements

• Rapid, constant changes in state policy

This project required not just quick fixes — but a complete redesign of the meeting ecosystem.

My Role

Between May 2020 and December 2021, this project became my primary responsibility.
At its peak, it consumed 65–75% of my workload.

I served as the primary coordinator for:

• Public comment processes

• Cross-department communication

• Form creation and data management

• Speaker management and real-time logistics

Because of the scale and impact of this work, I received a promotion during a general freeze — one of the only employees to do so at the time.

The Hardest Problem

In August 2020, the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) introduced limited in-person attendance while still offering virtual participation.

A new challenge emerged:

• Only 18 people could speak in-person

• Overflow went to a separate room

• Virtual speakers were unlimited

• The chair needed a clear, accurate list of speakers when the meeting started

The first hybrid meeting exposed the problems

The chair struggled to sort who was speaking in-person, who was virtual, and the order in which they should be called. The experience was confusing and error-prone.

The system I designed

To fix this, I built a Formstack → Google Sheets integration that:

• Automatically captured name, format (virtual/in-person), and agenda item

• Counted in-person spots without blocking virtual speakers

• Sorted speakers into a clean, chair-ready order

• Delivered a simple, accurate list for the meeting’s opening

• Formstack “Request to Speak” form

• Public Comment Spreadsheet

The result

At the second hybrid BOCC meeting, the process ran smoothly with zero errors, and the improvement was acknowledged during the public session.

Impact

• Coordinated 300+ virtual and hybrid meetings in the first year

• Built systems still used years later

• Improved public access and ensured legal compliance during a crisis

• Eliminated errors during public comment

• Created clarity across HTV, Facilities, Security, and Communications

• Provided stability during rapidly shifting policy changes

• Recognized publicly at a BOCC meeting for major improvements

• Received a promotion during a hiring freeze due to the impact of this work

What I Learned

This experience strengthened my approach to systems design, cross-functional collaboration, and user-centered problem solving.

I learned how to:

• Build new systems quickly under pressure

• Translate civic processes into clear, usable workflows

• Coordinate across departments without friction

• Communicate complex information simply

• Design for accessibility, inclusion, and public trust

• Lead during uncertainty and adapt to constant change

This project remains one of the most impactful and meaningful periods of my career.