Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community Presentation Request topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Greenfield resident asks council to correct minutes, restore presentation slot for local tech lab
Summary
A longtime Greenfield resident and community organizer, David Orta, told the City Council he and volunteers run a free community tech lab and said they were promised a presentation slot that did not occur; he asked the council to correct the public record and give his group an opportunity to present.
David Orta, a longtime Greenfield resident and community organizer, used the public comment period on April 20 to say his volunteer-run Aklu arts and science lab was invited to present to the council but was later told the item would not be heard.
Orta said the lab provides free access to VR, 3-D printing and digital education for adult learners and operates without city funding. He told the council the minutes of a prior meeting do not match the video record: "On April 8, during this council's public meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Rodriguez formally requested that we be invited to present. But according to the Facebook live recording, it seems she clearly made that request to the council and not the staff, and no council member seemed to object to the request. But what was recorded in the official minutes is not what was said," Orta said.
Orta said the group experienced a week of silence from city staff and received a message less than 24 hours before the April 20 meeting that the item would not be heard; he asked the council to "correct the public record" and to allow the lab to present as requested. He also said volunteers had been referred to the community center as "our house" by a staff member, language he said suggested volunteers were treated as guests rather than public stakeholders offering a research-backed service. "We're not here in anger. We're here with hope... We respectfully ask that our work be recognized and the public record be corrected and that we'd be given the fair opportunity to present our lab and our vision just as the council requested," Orta said.
Mayor White interrupted to keep the public comment within time limits but did not dispute the factual claims during the meeting. Council did not take formal action at the meeting to correct minutes or re-schedule a presentation; staff acknowledged the message relaying the cancellation but did not provide an explanation during the public comment period. Orta said he would like the minutes corrected and for staff to provide a clear explanation and reschedule.
During the meeting other public commenters provided resources and local updates, including distribution of "know your rights" materials for undocumented family members and community announcements; those items were separate from Orta's request about the lab.
