February 24, 2022
Mayor Emmett V. Jordan
Mayor Pro Tem Kristen L. K. Weaver
Councilmember Colin A. Byrd
Councilmember Judith F. Davis
Councilmember Ric Gordon
Councilmember Silke Pope
Councilmember Rodney M. Roberts
Dear Greenbelt City Council Members,
We write to express our concern about the use of Zoom Webinar format during council meetings and to urge you to use the more inclusive Zoom Meeting format in its stead. This feedback applies both to the hybrid meetings launched by the council on February 14 and to fully remote meetings that might be required in the future.
We commend the council’s attempt to use a hybrid format during the first recent in-person meeting on February 14. Such effort is in keeping with the council’s standing rules (March 2020): “Citizens of the city shall have a reasonable opportunity to be heard on any matter being considered at the meeting.” We encourage the council to continue using technology to enable real-time responses from the public during council meetings. Such technology is essential not only because of the ongoing pandemic and necessary limitations on in-person meeting attendance, but also because of factors such as work schedules, family responsibilities, transportation limitations, and health conditions that preclude many residents from attending council meetings in person.
At the same time, the Zoom Webinar format the council has employed during the current term inhibits resident participation in two ways:
- Residents can see only the names or faces of council members and designated guests; we have no way of knowing which other residents are observing a meeting. This isolation may inhibit some residents from asking questions or offering comments. In contrast, the Zoom Meeting format enables all virtual participants to know who is observing a given meeting and who is attempting to express a concern at any given time.
- During Zoom Webinars, residents can only use the chat function to direct questions to the council. On the other hand, Zoom Meetings enable residents to interact with each other by chat to coordinate input to the council.
We recognize that the council has previously expressed concerns about “Zoom bombing” within Zoom Meetings. Fortunately, technology has evolved over the past two years to the point at which such problems can be prevented and, if necessary, quickly addressed:
- When posting the Zoom link for interested residents, the council could use a random meeting ID (rather than using a Personal Meeting ID, which can be used for multiple meetings) and a passcode.
- A waiting room could be enabled so that registered participants are admitted individually. (The annoying chime that often accompanies such admissions can be turned off before each meeting.) If the “join before host” option were disabled, residents awaiting admission would automatically read an on-screen greeting confirming that they are attempting to enter the correct meeting. We recognize this option—in contrast with other options described in this list—would require technical support from administrative staff throughout each meeting so that council members could focus fully on meeting content.
- Screen sharing could be limited so that residents would not be able to take control of the screen and share unwanted content with other participants.
Application of these simple techniques would increase resident engagement and council accessibility, both of which are essential to the vibrant democratic process on which Greenbelt prides itself.
In conclusion, we strongly urge the council to use the Zoom Meeting option and to continue employing this option for all future meetings—both those with in-person attendance and those conducted virtually. Thank you for considering our feedback. We look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Greenbelt Racial Equity Alliance
Greenbelt Climate Action Network (GCAN)
Random Unselfish Acts of Kindness (RUAK)
Prince George’s County Peace & Justice Coalition