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Council asks staff about missing audio on recent meeting recordings; clerk says vendor investigation underway
Summary
A councilmember reported a section of audio missing from the city’s recording of a prior meeting; staff told the council the city uses Zoom as its sole recording system, has contacted the vendor, and will troubleshoot potential equipment positioning and backup options.
A councilmember raised a transparency concern at the Feb. 18 workshop after noticing a segment of audio missing from the city’s last video recording.
The councilmember asked whether the city has a backup recording system because the missing segment occurred just before a council resignation and the same meeting had experienced a more extensive loss of video and audio previously. The speaker said, “it’s super important that our audio is recorded for transparency and for just I think it's state law that we need to have an audio recording that we can hear.”
City staff replied that they are aware of the issue, have contacted the vendor for the new recording system and are troubleshooting. The city clerk noted the city does not edit recorded video to remove content and said Zoom is currently the only system used for recording meetings. Staff suggested that microphone positioning and an omnidirectional mic’s pickup pattern could be factors; they also said there was not currently an additional, dedicated backup audio device in the budget but that the city could explore the option if the council desired.
Why it matters: Audio and video records support open‑government transparency and are commonly used by residents, media and staff for accurate minutes and public access. Council members asked staff to explore backups and to report back on options and cost.
