Bangor staff recommend suspending remote public comment, keep remote attendance and accommodation process

City of Bangor staff on Monday recommended the council suspend remote public comment that comes through Zoom, citing repeated abusive and racially inappropriate submissions and the difficulty of reliably verifying identities in the current online environment.

The City Manager told the council that staff can stop abusive comments when they are heard but cannot prevent them entirely because people can falsify identities and use voice or video filters. The recommendation would retain remote attendance and live YouTube broadcasts but remove the invitation for public comment through Zoom. Instead, public comment would be accepted in person, by letter, email, or phone. Staff emphasized that the draft policy still permits a person to request a reasonable accommodation to speak remotely in specific situations.

Councilors discussed procedural options, including making a motion at the start of meetings to bar remote public comment for that session and whether to move the policy item earlier on the agenda so the council can decide before end‑of‑meeting public comment. Councilors also asked whether remote participants who are not permitted to comment would be muted (staff said yes) and whether there should be a time cutoff for accommodation requests; staff said the draft policy does not set a cutoff but can be revised.

No formal vote on the policy occurred at the workshop. Staff said the item is on the agenda for council consideration later in the meeting and can be removed or voted down if the council disagrees with the recommendation.