By Ally Lanasa, Staff Writer

Facebook Live wasn’t live enough for people to hear discussions during session

(July 16, 2020) Poor audio quality resulted in the quick postponement of Monday’s  Berlin Mayor and Council meeting, as viewers apparently struggled to follow the discussion on a Facebook Live stream.

Just 15 minutes into the meeting, the complaints reached a point where town officials felt they should adjourn.

Complaints about the town’ audio feed began to come in during the Parks Commission and Planning Commission meetings last week, and on Monday Mayor Gee Williams asked whether an evaluation of the equipment was in order.

Kelsey Jensen

“Well, we didn’t know it was this bad,” Administrative Manager Kelsey Jensen replied. “We actually just had them [technical contractors] out last week to evaluate putting in new microphones and new speakers, and they’re going to get a quote to us, but that is about as far as we’ve gotten.”

Councilmembers and Town Administrator Jeffrey Fleetwood questioned whether the meeting could proceed if the Facebook Live was inaudible.

“The recording is going to be available online, and I believe that is the requirement,” Jensen said.

Deputy Town Administrator Mary Bohlen added that the Facebook Live is an additional service to Berlin citizens, not a requirement. The audio recordings of each council meeting are uploaded to the town website the following day.

According to the Maryland Opening Meetings Act, arrangements must be made for the public and media “to attend, report on and broadcast meetings of public bodies” and to “witness the phases of deliberation, policy information, and decision making of public bodies.”

Meetings can be held by teleconference as long as the public can listen to meetings in compliance with the Open Meetings Act during the current state of covid-19 emergency.

The act does not require the mayor and council to allow public comments during a meeting.

The mayor and council do not respond to questions or comments made on Facebook during a regular meeting. Questions are only taken during a public hearing.

“With just two items left and with the public not being able to hear the proceedings, I would recommend that we postpone this meeting and add those two things to the next meeting while we work on getting the sound thing corrected,” said District 4 Councilmember Dean Burrell. 

The council moved to postpone the remaining items—the draft reserve policy and the discussion about the sewer fund balance reduction owed to the general fund—until the next meeting on Monday, July 27.

For more information, visit berlinmd.gov/government/council-meetings/.