Orange County Legislature Rejects Moving Meetings to After-Work Hours

The Orange County Legislature on Jan. 4 rejected a proposal to move two whole-body meetings to after-work hours and passed a yearlong schedule of afternoon meetings.  The county legislature has not hosted evening meetings for two years.  Minority leader Mike Paduch proposed to add two 7 p.m. meetings at the Jan. 4 reorganization meeting, saying the change would make it easier for working citizens to participate.  Mr. Paduch and the county legislature Democratic caucus had advocated for years for more after-hour meetings, whose numbers ebbed and flowed before dropping to zero in 2020.  That year, the county legislature got rid of night meetings for reasons including low public attendance, staff overtime costs, availabilities of department heads, and allowing legislators to attend evening town or village meetings in their districts, according to the meeting records.  ...