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Talent City Council will go live again in December By Tony Boom Oct 31, 2022 12:45 AM A A [Mail Tribune/file photo] Talent City Council will resume in-person meetings beginning in December after nearly two years of internet sessions. City councilors said they have had many requests to change from the electronic meetings, and some candidates for city positions in the November election have called for in-person meetings. Councilors gave consent to City Manager Jordan Rooklyn’s plan to resume the live sessions when they met Oct. 19. The first live meeting will be Dec. 7 at Town Hall, 206 E. Main St. The councilors also approved up to $25,000 to purchase a system that will allow hybrid meetings held in-person but also include participation of the public and council members via electronic media. In addition, councilors gave feedback on proposed rules governing the hybrid sessions. “In talking with other city managers, there’s a lot of richness that comes from communicating in person. Also, we get a lot of calls from the community to return to in-person,” said City Manager Jordan Rooklyn. “I want to really encourage an environment where we are including people to attend in person for a City Council meeting.” Deric Manzi, a challenger seeking Position 1 on the council in November, has called for the return to in-person sessions because not everyone is tech savvy. Mayoral challenger Mark Anderson also said he’d like to see the public have the opportunity to meet with the council in the same room while they decide city matters. Town Hall’s council dais was fitted with an in-house audio system shortly before the pandemic. Staff contacted the company that did that work, High Performance Audio Visual of Roseburg, to see what would be required to upgrade the system to have video streaming capabilities. High Performance submitted a bid of $16,181 for the necessary equipment. The figure didn’t include labor and freight. Among items included are seven monitors for council members and the mayor so they can view documents, and a camera system that can zoom in and be programmed. Council members voted to appropriate $25,000 from American Rescue Plan Act funding provided by the federal government during the pandemic to purchase and install the system. The council had originally considered $20,000 but increased the amount for potential maintenance. Asked about maintenance and support, Rooklyn said the cities of Phoenix and Central Point are using the same technology, and she anticipates their experience might help with issues. But the council determined a need for tech support funding. Installation of the equipment isn’t anticipated for three to four months due to heavy worldwide demand, said City Recorder Hector Flores. In the meantime, city officials will devise a way to continue to provide the Zoom option. “We will still work to have a hybrid meeting. It would just be less sophisticated,” said Rooklyn. Council members also reviewed the latest iteration of proposed hybrid meeting policies presented by Rooklyn. The council commented on a first draft at its Sept. 7 meeting. Rooklyn will confer with the city attorney before bringing back rules for council consideration. Councilors decided to eliminate the suggestion that they must approve attendance by other members via Zoom or other media. But they decided to keep the proposal of a maximum of five remote meetings per member in a year. In the event of extenuating circumstances, the council could always modify the meeting number, Councilor Eleanor Ponomareff noted. “I’m supportive of the limit for it to be expressive of our own commitment to be there in persons and engaging in person,” said Coucilor Ana Byers. “I do think it’s important to be as clear as possible about the flexibility. The unforeseen can impact anyone at a moment’s notice.” Other provisions in the rules called for in-person attendance by the city manager and city recorder. Chat, question and answer, as well as other interactive Zoom features would be disabled during the hybrid meetings. Rules also would cover individuals who wish to speak at a council session. Citizens would need to request to speak in-person, via phone or via the internet in advance of the meeting. But the rules would allow, at the mayor’s discretion, participation by others at a session after registered speakers have commented. In practice, Mayor Darby Ayers-Flood has been calling for participation by nonregistered speakers in the current Zoom sessions. Currently the Zoom sessions allow for a running translation to Spanish if a request is received. The policy was implemented after the switch to electronic meetings. It has not yet been determined how translation services would be provided in a hybrid format. Phoenix returned to in-person meetings in December 2021. Many other Rogue Valley jurisdictions restarted in-person sessions earlier this year. Ashland, Central Point, Eagle Point, Jacksonville and Phoenix all offer the hybrid options, although rules of engagement vary by jurisdiction. Medford returned to in-person meetings this spring without the hybrid approach, but they are televised. In Gold Hill, council sessions are on YouTube and can be attended in person. In Rogue River a telephone link for audio is available for those who don’t want to attend. Reach Ashland freelance writer Tony Boom at [email protected].