Palm Bay council restores live broadcasting of public comments after council vote

The Palm Bay City Council voted unanimously to resume live streaming of the public‑comment portion of council meetings after a public comment period in which several residents urged the council to restore on‑air access.

Mayor Rob Medina opened new business by saying the council should not “hinder the public” and expressed support for reinstating the broadcast. Residents who signed up to speak and members of the public who addressed the council spoke in favor of restoring the livestream. Lance Fisher said the change would “show the citizens that you too are listening” and urged that citizens be allowed to speak on consent items and have a second speaking opportunity; he also thanked councilmembers who supported the reversal. A second resident, who identified an address in Palm Bay, used a family‑communication analogy and urged the council to “turn around” and restore access. Kristen Lanzana noted that the Federal Communications Commission does not prohibit broadcasting public comments and said the public has a right to view local politics from home.

Council members who supported the change said bringing back the broadcast improves transparency and allows residents who cannot attend in person to see council business, including contentious items that elicited community concern. Councilman Michael Hammer said he had been unable to watch public comments while sick and observed that not streaming limited the ability of council members (and residents) to see facial expressions and hear full testimony; he also said broadcasting helps guard against misinformation because citizens and council members can re‑check actual remarks. Deputy Mayor Jaffe said misinformation sometimes appears in public comments and urged residents to speak truthfully and respectfully, but nonetheless supported reinstating the stream.

The motion to restore live streaming of public comments passed 5‑0 (motion by Councilman Johnson; second by Mayor Medina). Staff said they are arranging for the audio feed to be restored to the broadcast provider and that recorded meetings will continue to be posted if technical limits delay immediate live streaming during the equipment upgrade.

Ending: Council and staff said a planned equipment purchase to replace the city’s streaming hardware will address ongoing audio and captioning issues; staff indicated recordings will continue to be posted if the livestream experiences delays while the system is upgraded.