By Joshua Fechter
San Antonio Express-News
Originally published April 13, 2020
Democracy at the local level usually involves elected officials weighing policy within arm’s reach of each other, residents delivering impassioned remarks at a lectern, oblivious to the microphone’s cleanliness, and voters filing into libraries and schools.
But the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus has forced elected officials to try to strike a balance between open government and the need for everyone to keep their distance from each another — a key tool in slowing the spread of the virus but not conducive to public participation.
“The virus doesn’t care about democracy,” City Councilman Manny Peláez said. “The virus cares about killing people.”