Portsmouth residents who prefer to tune into City Council meetings via Facebook have fewer viewing options.
The City Council voted 4-3 last week to prohibit video recording from behind the dais — a move Councilman De’Andre Barnes said targeted him directly because he regularly uses his cellphone to stream meetings from his seat on Facebook Live. Those who supported it, such as Vice Mayor Lisa Lucas-Burke, said it’s a matter of decorum in a professional setting.
The vote came as the city pivoted from using Facebook Live to broadcast council meetings to instead streaming the last two meetings on the city’s website in an effort to drive more traffic there. The city received negative feedback about the switch, and city spokesperson Peter Glagola told residents in a forum last week that City Council meetings would resume on Facebook again, though it is unclear when that will happen.
The lawmakers’ vote amends the City Council’s Rules of Order and Procedure to state that cameras, video recorders and other recording devices may not be used any closer to the dais than the speaker’s podium unless otherwise directed by the sergeant-at-arms. Members of the public can still record from their seats and the podium while speaking.
Barnes said he hasn’t heard any complaints about having additional options for tuning into the city’s meetings.
“We should have plenty of options for our citizens to see what’s going on at a council meeting,” Barnes said.
Mayor Shannon Glover, Lucas-Burke and councilmen Bill Moody and Mark Hugel requested the change and voted in support. City Attorney Lavonda Graham-Williams said her office knew it would become “a political firestorm,” and that staff worked with the Virginia Attorney General’s Office and open records law counsel to ensure the resolution was legal.
Graham-Williams noted the open records counsel cautioned her office about the gray area around the rights of a council member who wants to record.
Councilman Mark Whitaker said he hasn’t seen any disturbance from Barnes recording and called it a “class issue” because of the audience Barnes has that other council members don’t, and because Facebook Live provides easy access for them.
“I think it’s a very petty act to take out some type of disgruntlement,” Whitaker said. “It’s a low point for us to even deal with an issue like this.”
But Graham-Williams said the city looked to other models such as Norfolk’s, which also prohibits using recording devices any closer to the dais than the lectern. She added she spoke with Barnes and Hugel about the resolution to address their questions prior to last week’s council meeting.
Portsmouth resident Mark Geduldig-Yatrofsky was the only public speaker, and he was opposed, stating that it was unnecessary and not a source of disruption during the meetings.
Councilman Vernon Tillage Jr. joined Whitaker and Barnes in voting against.
Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133, natalie.anderson@virginiamedia.com
