Resident raises concerns about online meeting access; city staff says upgrades are reducing delays

A resident told the City of Aberdeen City Council on Sept. 15 that video and audio for recent council meetings have been unreliable online and on the local TV feed, sometimes showing a blank screen or the wrong meeting. City IT upgrades to the meeting platform were described by staff as having fixed the primary problems and shortened the time to post recordings online.

Dawn Shepherd of Aberdeen told the council she and others had tried to view meetings on the city website and sometimes found no video or poor sound, and that last week’s meeting still was not available online. "I think it would really be beneficial for both the city council and the public to be able to have access to it sooner after a meeting so they could prepare," Shepherd said.

City staff described recent changes to the city’s meeting technology. Jordan, identified in the meeting as city manager and finance officer, said the city’s agreement with its meeting vendor improved the way Zoom interfaces with the recording system, allowing remote participants to see and be recorded. Jordan added that recorded meetings are typically posted to the city’s YouTube channel within a day or two and the link is copied into the agenda center, though staff will verify whether the agenda center link-posting protocol is being followed for every meeting.

The council did not take formal action on the issue during the meeting. Staff said special meetings historically have not all been recorded or posted as routine practice and that the recent upgrades should address several of the technical problems Shepherd described.

City staff said they would confirm whether all past special meetings are being recorded and whether the agenda center links are being posted consistently. No timeline for additional changes was given.