MUKILTEO, Wash., April 5, 2022 – Due to technical difficulties, Mukilteo City Council’s April 4th Regular Meeting was cut short. The new meeting is rescheduled for 6 p.m. April 11, 2022.
The Council was set to discuss various business items, including the 2024 Stormwater Comprehensive Plan Contract and a resolution promoting religious freedom. However, after about an hour of struggling to get the audio/visual recording equipment to corporate, Mayor Joe Marine concluded the session.
Though there was little video or audio recorded, the meeting has been posted on the City’s Facebook page. About eight minutes into the meeting, Mukilteo City Council held a brief executive session.
The recording features intelligible audio around the 31-minute mark of a Mukilteo resident voicing their concerns regarding the City’s vacant Finance Director position.
“I think that was a terrible decision that was made last week,” Mukilteo resident Charlie Pancerzewski said in reference to the Council’s decision to postpone the appointment of Scott James to the Finance Director’s position.
As the Lynnwood Times reported previously, Scott James withdrew his name from consideration for the role following the Council’s decision to postpone the appointment.
“You had an excellent person—he stood up here for a half-hour last week and answered all your questions and did it very well. The questions were not easy questions,” Pancerzewski continued.
“I didn’t hear anybody say anything about his answers or that he was wrong […] So I don’t know of any significant reason to not have made that decision and to carry it over for a week. But I think that the City Council has made a very poor decision last week, and it’s going to hurt the City for quite a few months.”
Two more public comments came via ZOOM. The second commenter said they felt the Council’s treatment of James during last week’s meeting was “shameful” and informed the Council of severe technical difficulties with the ZOOM session—specifically noting an inability to hear the Council’s comments.
As the technical difficulties became more apparent, the meeting concluded not long after the third public comment.
Mukilteo CC dedicated almost $150,000 of ARPA funds for audio/visual upgrades in October 2021
In October 2021, Mukilteo City Council voted to dedicate $148,924 of ARPA funds for audio/visual upgrades in Council Chambers, and some of the upgrades were reportedly made by February 2022.
These funds are intended to support the following upgrades to the chamber’s video/audio capabilities:
- Improved video display and recording capabilities
- Improved audio capabilities
- Improved reliability and energy efficiency
- Install and implement designed audio, video, and sound system solution into the existing City Council Chambers
- Improve ease of use for the City Clerk and Meeting Chair
- Integration and ease of use with streaming and archival software
“I think this is sorely needed,” said then Council Vice President Bob Champion after the Council’s unanimous vote to approve the funds in October. “I look forward to sitting in the audience and hopefully hearing future councils clearly.”
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Author: Bo John Brusco
