From: Estela Villagrana
To: City Clerk
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Consent Calendar Item: 5-E and 5-0
Date: Tuesday, July 12, 2022 6:03:16 PM
Please read out loud for me during the public comment period for these 2 items and add to the permanent record.
5. Consent Calendar Items:
5-E and 5-O
Hello Council Members and members of the public. This is Estela Villagrana, managing member of Building43Winery. Please stop the practice of using Zoom meetings in lieu of in-person meetings. This practice is exclusionary at the very least. It takes away the benefits of body language and hand gestures from the public and presents a severe challenge to many of us, particularly those of us with English as a second language issues. I wanted to speak at last months meeting on at least 2 topics, but I was discouraged by the zoom process. I am uncomfortable with the concept of speaking without people seeing my demeanor, facial expressions, and body language. Without the benefits of non-verbal language, I worry that people will not understand my points.
I also fear being cut off from communication by the zoom process. This fear was reinforced during last Tuesday’s meeting; I was watching and waiting as my business partner’s “hand” was raised to speak to this very issue. He was not called on to speak and patiently waited his turn. By the time he was called on the vote had already been done and the Council was discussing another Agenda item. He tried to explain this but was cut off. I believe the outcome would have been drastically different had we been in- person and he and I had the benefit of addressing the council in person. I don’t think you would have even made the mistake of ignoring someone’s turn.
The vote at last weeks meeting was 3-2 in favor of continuing this exclusionary process. I strongly believe that if my partner had not been denied his right to speak, at least one more of you would have done the right thing and I would not be writing this to be read tonight.
Please stop using Covid as an excuse to deny the Public their right to address the Council. Covid is here to stay just like the common flu. If you are concerned about people in-person, in the Council chambers, there are things that could be done, such as opening all of the windows during meetings.
I urge the 3 members that voted in favor of this exclusionary zoom practice last week to dig deep and do the right thing. As hard as you have worked to get where you are at, it would be a shame to go down in a legacy of exclusion. And thank you to the 2 Council members that voted to stop the zoom process and go back to in-person meetings.
I believe I am being polite in only calling this zoom practice exclusionary. Perhaps there was a time for this practice, but going forward it has no place in a City that is open and transparent in its public dealings and has the best interests of ALL members of the public in mind.
Thank you for your consideration and please vote to stop the facilitation of the exclusion of the Public from City Council meetings. Please vote NO on further zoom type meetings.