— from Joe Symons —
Two and a half years ago I wrote you to request that the previously established A/V system that allowed the public to participate in public meetings, set up and paid for by an Orcas resident, be re-habbed and brought back to life. There was a flurry of emails from IT folks (I can send you reminder copies if you wish) which resulted in zero action. That was 2017. In 2018 I wrote several reminder letters regarding this topic. As I recall none of them were even acknowledged as received, and certainly no action was taken. I didn’t even bother writing in 2019.
Now it’s 2020. Cheap, available, easy video conferencing, such as Zoom and Skype, are available. There is no reason for delay. Topics such as the request for a moratorium on vacation rentals, on the comp plan LCA and HNA, on the CP vision statement compliance, are important and need far more public input. Few residents who do not reside on SJ Island can attend public meetings, but could and should be given a chance to participate in public access time and testimony on given topics without having to sacrifice virtually an entire day for the 3-5 minutes they are allotted to speak.
A test using Zoom was attempted today, but could not be successful due to what appear to be SJC Wi-Fi firewall settings.
I cannot understand why SJC, with its advanced technologies as illuminated by the Open GIS data and extensive web site, can’t make public access from Lopez, Shaw, Orcas, and outer islands an easy, inexpensive, solid, dependable, and robust feature. If you can stream and record public meetings, adding remote access capability should be simple. Even intermediate technologies, such as a laptop in the Council Room to deliver public comments originating off of SJI, should be embraced and tested ASAP.
Failure to implement this stretches ones credulity regarding your interest in open, transparent, and full disclosure governmental process.
Here, here! Zoom, for example, is so simple, easy, cheap and reliable to use (it can be used from anywhere that has an internet connection, including internationally), there really is no good reason not to do so. There may be some bad reasons, but certainly no good ones.
I totally agree and support Joe in this! Please, people who are in a position to make this happen, just do it. Seems like a given that we would be able to communicate back and forth using modern technology.
I concur with Joe, Donna and Kathi. Travel to and from SJI is difficult. If there is a way to allow “other” islanders to partake in our county government, it should be made available. Not to do so appears obstructive.
Right on, Joe. For these 4 Sunday evenings, a group of us are enjoying a conducting series with Adam Stern (anyone can still join in…contact the Chamber music office 376-6636, OICMF.org. It’s free)
Some of us go to the library to watch, the others get it through Zoom.us at home. Easy
Thank you, Joe. Open meetings = open democracy. E-communication = E-community = EZ. This should be a no-brainer.
It is important that people have a way to comment and have it recorded into the meeting minutes. Think in terms of an accessibility issue. The logistics of getting to a meeting for people who have issues with mobility or chronic pain or immune suppression or care-giving obligations or even a crummy cold are really tough. The impact of hearing face to face public testimony is psychologically very different from receiving an email and doesn’t (inadvertently or otherwise) get left out of public records requests. If you could comment from home or from the library with the options of having your face seen on a screen in the meeting venue and perhaps live TTY, Public Comment remarks would reflect the opinions of a broader representation of island residents.
Bravo, Joe Symons; thanks for bringing this issue to the light again. It’s disheartening, at best, to still not have this issue fixed when there are so many solutions now.