City Of Healdsburg, County Of Sonoma Hope To Curtail Zoom-Bombing

HEALDSBURG, CA - The City of Healdsburg will not allow public comments to be made via Zoom for its next City Council meeting on Monday, Oct. 2.

This change is attributed to recent disruptive and hate-filled comments happening to cities across the region, Healdsburg City Clerk Raina Allan said Thursday in a news release.

"These attacks have subjected communities to profane content and threaten the City Council’s ability to conduct business," Allan said. "The City welcomes public input and regrets the inconvenience that this change may cause for members of the community who prefer to participate in meetings virtually."

Members of the public who wish to address the Council during the Oct. 2 regular meeting can do so by attending the meeting in person in the Council Chamber at 401 Grove St., Healdsburg. Public comments can also be submitted by email at publiccomment@healdsburg.gov.

Members of the public may watch or listen to the meeting using one of the following methods:

1. Watch the live stream on the city website: healdsburg.gov/agendas
2. Watch on Zoom: www.healdsburg.gov/zoom
3. Watch on Facebook: www.facebook.com/cityofhealdsburg

The agenda for the Oct. 2 Healdsburg City Council meeting is available here. Spanish interpretation is available in person in the Council Chamber and closed captioning is available in multiple languages on Zoom.

No end date for the ban on Zoom comments has been identified at this time, but the city of Healdsburg hopes to return to normal operations as soon as it is possible to do so, Allan said.

Sonoma County Hopes To Curtail "Zoom-Bombing"

The County of Sonoma also announced Thursday it would limit public comments to in-person at meetings or via email through the end of this calendar year for Board of Supervisors meetings, as well as meetings for the Board of Directors for Sonoma Water and the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District.

Members of the public who wish to address the Board during meetings, normally held on Tuesdays beginning at 8:30 a.m., must attend in person in the Board Chambers at 575 Administration Drive, Room 100A in Santa Rosa, county officials said. Members of the public may watch or listen to the meeting on Legistar, Zoom or phone, but will not be able to comment virtually. The public is also invited to submit comments to bos@sonoma-county.org.

The reason, county officials said, was escalating challenges of maintaining civility among those who participate in the Public Comment portion of the Board meeting via Zoom. During the break, county staff will continue exploring options for how to curtail such "Zoom-bombing" in the future.

For agendas for future board meetings, go here. Spanish translation for county meetings is available through Zoom.

"We will take a break from virtual comments while we try to figure out a solution to the racism, the antisemitism and the hate that has been spread online by bad actors over the last several weeks," said Supervisor Chris Coursey, chair of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. "Until we have a better way of doing that, we will only allow public comment within the Board Chambers."