ROTHENBURGER – Zoom-bomb porn and the move to axe public inquiries

SOMETIMES HAVING a life outside of politics can get in the way. I missed yesterday’s City council meeting because I had some errands to do around town. It wasn’t until late afternoon that I received the statement from City Hall apologizing for the “disruption” caused by a Zoom-bombing incident.

I must admit I didn’t previously know about Zoom bombing being a thing, so I learned something yesterday. What happened, it turns out, is that somebody managed to tap into the live streaming of the meeting during public inquiries and insert a short bit of pornographic video.

As the IT department struggled to wrest back control of the show, the meeting was recessed. Since I didn’t witness the events, I can’t comment firsthand but I have some thoughts on what I’ve read and heard, and been told.

First off, let’s all agree that although some people apparently found the incident amusing, others were quite upset by it, and it wasn’t an acceptable interjection into our civic democratic process.

But just as unacceptable is some of the reaction from around the council table. Coun. Bill Sarai, for example, wants to divest council meetings of public participation.

My understanding is that after the meeting was interrupted, councillors briefly gathered in an inner office and then returned to chambers to continue the meeting. That’s when Sarai made his motion to eliminate the public inquiries section from council agendas, a motion that Coun. Dale Bass seconded.

It should have been a notice of motion for discussion at a future meeting, and when it was pointed out that such a decision would require a change to the council’s procedure bylaw, the whole meeting ended up being adjourned.

Sarai, you may recall, is the same councillor who was determined some time back that non-profit organizations critical of City council should be disqualified from receiving City funding. Fortunately, he backed down, but he has not exactly been a guardian of free speech.

Apparently, Sarai has been contemplating a motion for several months to get rid of public inquiries at council meetings. I wonder if he and his colleagues might consider a couple of things. One, that they’re supposed to serve the public and therefore have a duty to listen to the public regardless of occasional disruptive incidents. Two, that it just might be possible that council’s own actions have led to public disrespect for council such that some people’s willingness to do the sort of thing that happened Tuesday has taken hold. That doesn’t excuse it, but maybe partially explains it.

Sarai’s view is that the public’s questions and concerns can be answered via email or maybe by phone, either by council or staff, and this proves council’s transparency and willingness to communicate.

The restrictions they’ve already put on public inquiries, not to mention removing the ability to post comments on the City’s Facebook page, raise questions about the depth of that willingness.

I guess I’m a little sensitive about the public inquiries sections of council agendas because I’m the one who put them in there. I wanted not one, but two per agenda, so that the public could ask council about things that were coming up for discussion, or later in the meeting could ask about things that had been discussed. Or, ask about anything they darn well wanted to.

Tuesday’s meeting illustrates the point very well. Before the Zoom bombing thing, resident Bronwen Scott was asking about the Build Kamloops project. The results of the alternative approval process were announced Monday. Now that’s a highly current and controversial issue. Send an email? Sure, and receive a vapid response, or none at all.

Where else but at regular council meetings can a member of the public have a face-to-face conversation with mayor and council, other than rare town halls? Nowhere.

I like to think Sarai wouldn’t make such a motion if this was a civic election year but, well, maybe he would.

Now then, not wanting to let any opportunity pass to emphasize just how dysfunctional this council is, Coun. Katie Neustaeter put the Zoom bomb incident squarely on Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson’s shoulders. He was guilty of “a horrifying display of incompetence” because he didn’t apologize quickly enough after it happened or something.

If you’re familiar with council chambers, you’ll know the big screen on which slide presentations are projected, and Zoom participants are seen, is directly behind the mayor and he doesn’t always see what’s on there. You’ll also know he has no control over when or which Zoom participants tap into the meeting. An IT person does that.

Anyway, Hamer-Jackson had to spend some time yesterday explaining in the media that he wasn’t aware of the porn clip. “I didn’t see the porn,” he said. “It happened so fast.” While Neustaeter accused him of laughing, the mayor said that if he laughed, it was because others in the room were laughing, not because he found the airing of a pornographic video in council chambers funny.

Seems to me the indignation should be directed at whoever put up the porn video. The IT department is looking into improving security on its live streaming, and the RCMP have been asked to look at possible charges if the culprit is caught. Anyone who watches the live stream has to register with an email so it seems to me a trace should be possible, but I’m not an IT expert.

Anyway, I suspect the move to axe public inquiries could result in a better than usual turnout for public inquiries at the next council meeting.

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor.  He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.