Redwood City has suspended online public comments during meetings through December in response to disruptions with hate speech in recent weeks, the city announced Friday.
Public agencies throughout California have reported hate speech disrupting public meetings. Locally, the communities of Atherton, El Cerrito, Monterey, Pacifica, Sacramento, San Carlos and South San Francisco all have reported such incidents in the last 10 days. Many are modifying their public comment practices in response.
Redwood City will welcome public comment at meetings in person or by email. Members of the public may view City Council meetings on Zoom but will not be able to provide public comment by Zoom. If a public comment email is received by 5 p.m. on the day of the meeting and the comment relates to an agenda item or is general public comment on matters under the city’s subject matter jurisdiction, the comment will be read aloud at the City Council meeting. Public comment messages should be sent to PublicComment@RedwoodCity.org. All public comments are public record, according to the city.
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Doug North Central said:
Doug North Central said:
Thomas Morgan said:
Palm ave. is an industrial area where many residents feel is more appropriate. Thank you Lisa for your work on this very important issue.
Dirk van Ulden said:
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(6) comments
Kudos to Redwood City for increasing transparency by reading email comments during council meetings. The Belmont council refuses to read email comments in meetings and rarely even discusses email comments with which they disagree.
Tim, I would love if San Mateo also read the email comments!
Sounds like the same censorship that the left started during Covid. The FBI, Google, FB, Twitter, school boards were and still are the grand participants of censorship. The left accepted it because it was done for a noble cause and the good of the people due to "hate speech" or "misinformation." But the people with eyes wide open knew it was done by cowardly people who don't believe in freedom of speech, freedom of ideas or freedom of opinions.
Before I was even scheduled for my presentation at the Belmont Council meeting, all scheduled speakers were informed that the Council was prohibited from making any comments or ask questions of the presenters. That is according our mayor's interpretation of the law. She is a real expert, you know! We have a communist or fascist system in place and that is very alarming. Thus, we spoke and just walked away when the egg timer bell rang while the members of the Council sat in robotic silence. So much for the new crop of the elected leaders representing the elusive underrepresented or economically disadvantaged constituents.
Dirk, I believe all City Councils follow this rule. It is certainly the case in San Mateo, and the reasoning is not to discuss anything that is not on the agenda. That ensures residents can be present when they see an agenda item of interest to them. What I have seen is a compelling public comment get on the next agenda, so it’s a great tool for residents.
And San Mateo City Council was hit last night. Extremely disturbing. Our City Clerk did an excellent job of disconnecting them once the hate speech started, but it rattled everyone who witnessed it. It’s time for zoom to have a 7-second delay so some brave would can monitor the call and eliminate the vile hate before it gets to the rest of the participants.
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