Life in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused much of everyday life to migrate online to maintain physical distancing guidelines, and that includes government meetings.

In light of that, the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office has recommended public bodies cancel or reschedule meetings whenever possible and go with a virtual option only as a matter of last resort during this public health emergency.

If a public body must address time-sensitive business, it may proceed if the notice of meeting contains detailed information about how members of the public can attend and listen to the meeting via telephone, live stream or other similar technologies, according to the AG’s office.

City of Belen

The city of Belen council meets at 6 p.m., the first and third Monday of each month, and will be broadcast on the city’s Facebook page, City of Belen.

Village of Bosque Farms

The governing body for the village of Bosque Farms meets at 6 p.m., the third Thursday of each month.

Members of the public can watch the meeting on the village’s Facebook page, Village of Bosque Farms.

Village of Los Lunas

The Los Lunas Village Council meets at 6 p.m., the second and fourth Thursday of the month.

Those wanting to watch the meeting can go to loslunasnm.gov/meeting and they will be prompted to download the Webex software.

Town of Peralta

The town of Peralta council meetings are at 6 p.m., on the fourth Tuesday of every month. The meetings will be broadcast via Facebook Live on its page, The Town of Peralta.

City of Rio Communities

The City of Rio Communities holds a regular workshop at 10 a.m. and a regular business meeting at 6 p.m., the second and fourth Tuesday of the month.

The council will stream meetings on it’s Facebook page, City of Rio Communities.

If members of the public have comments they would like to submit to the governing body before the next meeting, they can email councilors directly via the addresses on the city’s website — riocommunities.net — or to [email protected] or [email protected]. Residents can also call City Hall at 861-6803.

Valencia County Commission

The next Valencia County Commission meets at 5 p.m., the first and third Wednesday of the month. The meetings will be on Facebook Live, on the county’s page, Valencia County Admin and Government.

Public comments can be sent via email to [email protected] by 4 p.m., the day of the meeting. The comments must contain the author’s name and physical address.

Belen Consolidated Schools

The Belen Board of Education meets at 5 p.m., on the second and fourth Tuesdays, and can be viewed on the district’s Facebook page, Belen Consolidated Schools.

Los Lunas Schools

The Los Lunas Board of Education meets at 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesday.

The meetings will be live streamed to the district YouTube page, Los Lunas Schools. Meeting videos are not archived on YouTube or the district’s website.

School of Dreams Academy

The SODA Governing Council meets at 7 p.m., the first Tuesday of the month. The meetings will be posted on the SODA website, sodacharter.net and it’s Facebook page, School of Dreams Academy (S.O.D.A.).

The AG’s guidelines for virtual meetings states at the start of a meeting, the chairperson should announce the names of members participating remotely.

All members of the public body participating remotely must identify themselves whenever they speak and must be clearly audible to the other members of the public body and to the public.

Members of the public should be afforded remote access, via live stream or other similar technology, if possible, or by call-in number for listening by phone.

The chairperson should suspend discussion if the audio or video is interrupted.

All votes of the public body must be by roll call vote.

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The Valencia County News-Bulletin is a locally owned and operated community newspaper, dedicated to serving Valencia County since 1910 through the highest journalistic and professional business standards. The VCNB is published weekly on Thursdays, including holidays both in print and online.