Here’s why public comments won’t be allowed at Monday’s Bellingham City Council meeting
Bellingham City Council is suspending the public comment part of its meetings in an apparent effort to end “medical misinformation” about the new coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19 vaccines and treatments made by speakers during the council’s online sessions.
YouTube recently disabled — then reinstated this week — videos of Whatcom County Council and Bellingham City Council meetings after the video-streaming service reviewed those videos in response to a Bellingham Herald inquiry about why they were disabled.
But the public comment part of the City Council meeting was suspended nonetheless, at least for the evening session Monday, July 26, according to the published agenda.
“I’m not happy with this. No one is happy with this. Public comment is important,” Councilman Michael Lilliquist said Thursday, July 23, in a public Facebook post.
“The decision was made by the current council president and the administration in response to actions taken by YouTube, which has been the host for live-streaming and for later viewing,” Lilliquist said.
In a Thursday evening email to The Herald, Council President Hannah Stone said her decision to suspend the public comment period was made Wednesday morning, as the meeting agenda was being prepared for publication.
“Public comment is an instrumental part of an effective democracy, though not required by law,” Stone said in a statement Friday, July 23. “Furthermore, the First Amendment protects freedom of speech, and these protections extend to the council’s public comment period. Accordingly, if council chooses to hold public comment periods, the council can only implement content-neutral restrictions on public comment.”
Stone said that her decision was considered carefully.
“This suspension is not a solution but rather a pause to preserve uninterrupted public access to meetings. My aim is to support new opportunities for improved community engagement and increased transparency. That goal will be the focus of discussions and planning in the weeks and months ahead,” she said.
‘Please note that the city has not received notice from YouTube to indicate that the July 12th video has been reinstated or assurance that the matter is resolved. The city was issued a warning from YouTube when the video was pulled. The city appealed this decision, and the appeal was denied. It is my understanding that this deletion and warning is the first step in YouTube’s ‘strike’ process and additional strikes could result in the deletion of the city’s YouTube channel. Furthermore, each strike comes with intermediate penalties that could cause delays to the city’s other non-Council video work,” Stone said.
Stone said council rules allow the council president to make decisions regarding public comment, and such public comment is not required by state law.
Public comment can be made by mail at 210 Lottie St., Bellingham, WA 98225; by telephone at 360-778-8200; or online at https://engagebellingham.org/council-publiccomment.
“Going forward, my aim is to support new opportunities for improved community engagement and increased transparency,” Stone told The Herald.
YouTube deleted meetings
YouTube deleted the Bellingham City Council meeting of July 12 and the Whatcom County Council meeting of June 15, where speakers discussed unapproved treatments for COVID-19 and promoted distortions and lies about the COVID-19 vaccines.
Those meetings also included false comparisons to the Holocaust that drew criticism from a national anti-hate organization.
YouTube told The Herald that it reinstated the videos Wednesday, July 21, after reviewing links to the meetings sent by The Herald.
“We have policies in place to allow content that might otherwise violate our policies as long as it includes educational, documentary, scientific, or artistic context,” YouTube said.
The previously deleted Whatcom County Council meeting was streaming at YouTube’s WhatcomCountyGov channel Thursday, but not at the Bellingham City Council Meetings channel because it was deleted by the user.
Bellingham recently began strictly enforcing a time limit of 15 minutes for all open public comment at its meetings, where anyone can discuss any topic for 3 minutes.
During last winter’s protests over housing for the area’s homeless residents, council members faced the wrath of residents who spoke for an hour or more, often leveling personal attacks and uttering profanities.
This story was originally published July 22, 2021 at 7:17 PM.
