‘It’s not a game,’ as Bellingham council faces profanity, personal attacks online
Bellingham City Council is tightening its rules for public comment during online meetings, after recent incidents of profanity and heated personal attacks against city staff and elected officials.
Those who want to address the council still will have their three minutes to speak on any topic, council members decided.
But speakers must disclose their true names and not use a pseudonym, as several people have done recently, and use of profanity means the speaker will be silenced.
Further, speakers will be disconnected when their three minutes are up, instead of being allowed to finish a sentence, as has been the practice.
And personal attacks no longer will be tolerated.
“We need to hear from the public, but it’s not a game,” said Councilman Gene Knutson.
Tensions flared most recently on Jan. 25, as the city prepared to oust residents of Camp 210, a tent encampment erected at City Hall to protest what participants said was a lack of shelter for people without homes.
Some callers used profanity and berated city officials.
Councilwoman Pinky Vargas said that the council’s public comment process is working differently since the coronavirus pandemic sent meetings into an online forum.
“All of us know that the public comment period has changed a lot since we entered this virtual world,” she said.
Before the pandemic, those who wanted to speak went to City Council Chambers and put their name on a list, and sign-ups ended at 7 p.m. when the meeting started.
Comments rarely ran more than 30 minutes, and council members could see who was speaking.
Now, the council doesn’t see anyone’s faces, and speakers can register even during the comment period.
“People aren’t even saying their name for the record,” Vargas said. “People are hiding behind a screen. We can’t see their face. That is not civil discourse.”
Before the pandemic only a few people would go to City Hall and register to speak.
Now that sign-ups are online, the list of participants can run into the dozens and take hours to complete.
“The rolling number of people that are able to get onto Zoom meetings and make a statement almost makes it impossible for us to finish,” Knutson said.
None of the council members wanted to end the public comment period, however.
“It’s not that we don’t want to hear public comment,” Vargas said. “I would just like to see some standards. And a little bit of civility.”
Councilwoman Lisa Anderson criticized the recent personal attacks and foul language, adding school children and city employees are often watching the live broadcast.
“I want to hear from the public. I don’t want to limit it,” Anderson said.
“(But) when it’s used to attack — that’s when I have issue. When it’s used to degrade — that’s when I have issue,” she said.
Knutson said that he hopes that clearly stating the rules in advance of the pubic comment period will be enough.
“Hopefully, we won’t have to do anything more drastic. If you want to have a civil discussion, let’s be adults together,” he said.
This story was originally published February 10, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
