(KRON) — The Metropolis of Burlingame will not enable distant public remark at metropolis council and fee conferences, in keeping with an announcement posted on X, previously Twitter, on Thursday. The San Mateo County metropolis mentioned the ban was in response to latest “Zoom-bombing” at metropolis council and fee conferences.
People espousing anti-Semitic rhetoric have disrupted conferences across the Bay Space, in keeping with the town. “That is unacceptable, hurtful, and goes in opposition to the Metropolis Council’s dedication to stay ‘United In opposition to Hate,’” the posted assertion mentioned.
Burlingame’s announcement cited a latest Monterey Metropolis Council assembly wherein white supremacists used faux names, together with these of notorious Nazis. Callers in that assembly espoused “hateful and ignorant speech,” the Metropolis of Burlingame mentioned.
Comparable incidents have occurred with distant commentators at latest metropolis council conferences in Walnut Creek, San Mateo, San Carlos, Pacifica, Atherton and Sacramento. A number of Bay Space cities have taken related steps to ban distant remark, together with Walnut Creek, which did so earlier this week.
“Out of an abundance of warning, the Metropolis has made the choice to not enable distant remark throughout Council and Fee conferences,” Burlingame acknowledged. “It is crucial that we not solely stand with the group in opposition to hate-mongering and anti-Semitism, however that we additionally keep targeted on Metropolis enterprise.”
Burlingame mentioned it nonetheless encourages public remark and discourse on issues in public conferences. Nonetheless, the town is asking that for the foreseeable future, folks attend conferences in particular person to remark or electronic mail feedback to: publiccomment@burlingame.org.
Final week, the Santa Rosa Faculty Board made an analogous transfer to ban digital feedback at conferences.
