Tonight’s Planning & Zoning Commission virtual meeting drew over 80 online viewers. Most logged on for the third agenda item: discussion of The Hamlet at Saugatuck project.
Some were for it. Some against it.
But all were aghast when — during an earlier agenda item — pornographic images, a swastika, and a video of an ISIS-style beheading popped up on the screen,
Commissioner Michael Cammeyer quickly began deleting people from the Zoom session. Town IT technician Mike Phillis cut the feed. The P&Z took an official break.
But the damage had been done. Viewers were shaken and upset. One man said, “I can’t describe how awful that was to experience. The P&Z was scrambling to try to take care of the situation, but I left the meeting because it was overwhelming.”
This was not the first hacking of a town meeting. The Zoning Board of Appeals experienced a similar incident recently.
Cammeyer and P&Z director Michelle Perillie slowly began letting people they knew were legitimate back in the Zoom meeting.
Cammeyer also called the police. Chief Foti Koskinas recommend canceling the meeting. Town attorney Ira Bloom — part of the Zoom call — concurred.
Koskinas headed to Town Hall. He promised a thorough investigation by Westport Police.
The schedule for the Hamlet application is now uncertain. After tonight, the P&Z had been scheduled to discuss the Saugatuck project on April 21, with public input set for April 28. Westport schools are on break next week.
Upcoming meetings will continue to be virtual. Town Hall facilities do not work for P&Z sessions, Cammeyer says, with inadequate technology and other issues.
In the meantime, town officials will have to figure out how to allow residents to access meetings from home — while keeping out hackers who disrupt and traumatize them.
That was wacky for sure..As to P and Z sessions, didn’t they used to be in Town Hall?
If anything, this episode demonstrates that the more significant technological issues are associated with Zoom, not Town Hall. The Planning and Zoning boards in other nearby towns (New Canaan and Fairfield for example) meet in person. Somehow other Westport boards (for example Education and Finance ) make it work that way as well. The remote option was only created in response to the pandemic and was never meant to become permanent. Especially for major issues like the Hamlet, the P & Z needs to make itself more accessible to the public in a forum that allows for real human interaction and participation, not the controlled environment of a remote session. And by the way, as is the case in other nearby towns, you can ALSO provide a Zoom link for those who want (or need) to follow from home.
Yes!
Well said! Residents have differing needs and barriers to participation, so what is convenient for some is a challenge for others. Why not have the benefit of both, in-person and a zoom addition? I would happily cosign what you wrote, I believe many others in town would too!
We had a work session item on the recent ZBA meeting where this same thing occurred, also postponed. This same issue happened during Parks & Rec meetings in the early days of the discussions about the Compo Beach Playground renovation (during COVID), but everyone hoped the issue had been solved – until the latest ZBA meeting. It is disconcerting to observe, and even more upsetting if you have an agenda item you want to comment on or present!
Chaos. Just like the rest of the country.
Oddly enough I was on an International Motor Press Association Zoom call that was disrupted with the exact same images. This was six months to a year ago.
that info might be useful for our police.
was this hacking? or someone not taking seconds to set the proper meeting settings so random attendees couldnt just share content?
That’s what I wondered.