The Lakewood Township Committee's decision to continue virtual-only meetings has resulted in a noticeable decline in public participation. According to an analysis by the Asbury Park Press, meeting durations have decreased significantly since the shift from in-person gatherings due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Prior to 2020, township committee meetings lasted an average of 55 minutes and featured comments and questions from about six people per session. Since transitioning to virtual formats, meetings now average only 20 minutes with fewer than one public comment per meeting.
In 2024, the committee held 12 meetings averaging 21 minutes each. Only five of these sessions included any public interaction, often limited to input from one or two residents. This contrasts sharply with the early weeks of 2020 when four in-person meetings averaged 38 minutes and typically saw four public comments per session. Two of those meetings even had six inquiries on various topics.
Marc Pfeiffer, a senior policy fellow at Rutgers University's Bloustein Local Government Center for Urban Policy Research, emphasized the importance of face-to-face interactions: “In person meetings have a value, they provide upfront interaction with the people they represent. It allows more direct participation and provides nuance that can’t be seen or observed or happen when you are on a webinar,” he stated. Pfeiffer also noted that in-person meetings demand more formality and decorum reflective of their official nature.
