MICHIGAN CITY — On the heels of a decision by the La Porte County Board of Commissioners to eliminate Zoom use from meetings, Michigan City Common Council members and residents gave their own opinions on whether to keep the program.
The council, during their Jan. 7 meeting, discussed the use of Zoom during meetings, but no decision was made as to whether to continue the service.
La Porte County Commissioners voted to discontinue using Zoom in a 2-1 vote during their organizational meeting on Jan. 2 with Commissioner Joe Haney casting the dissenting vote.
According to previous reports, Board of Commissioners president Connie Gramarossa said the county annually pays $7,000 for the usage of Zoom during public meetings, plus any additional costs of overtime for County IT employees.
In addition to the cost, another push to discontinue the use of the video system was a cyber-attack that occurred during a La Porte County Council meeting on Nov. 25 where hackers displayed graphic imagery and sounds using Zoom.
Michigan City resident Tommy Kulavik told the Common Council he was in favor of potentially eliminating the use of Zoom if it will add up on the city’s other expenses. He said, with the COVID-19 pandemic officially over, it was time go back to having people come to meetings in person.
“I think if it’s going to be any cost to the city, if we can eliminate it, too,” Kulavik said.
“They said a lot of the counties and municipalities have done away with it. The pandemic’s over, just go back to the way it was before,” he added.
Michigan City residents Scott Meland and Faye Moore spoke out in favor of the continued use of Zoom. Meland said human connection is very important and he suggested considering Access LaPorte County for potentially hosting the Zoom calls.
“We’re all fighting apathy when it comes to municipal government and these matters of our civic affairs. We already pay ALCO [Access La Porte County] to do it. I don’t know if there’s a cost, on top of their other services, to have Zoom,” Meland said.
“I would highly encourage us to maintain Zoom because it allows two-way communication. It allows that open dialogue and we shouldn’t do anything that restricts our already apathetic community involvement,” he added.
Moore added that she supported Zoom use as it allowed her to participate in the meetings as she currently has limited mobility.
“Please keep the Zoom option for council meetings. I have a broken foot. Otherwise, I’d be there tonight,” she said.
Councilman-at-Large Dr. Vidya Kora also voiced favor of keeping the use of Zoom, stating they should continue using the service if it did not cost the city.
“I think we should keep the Zoom option open for people to participate. Because the more we can encourage people to participate, whether in person or virtually, I think we’ll all benefit from it,” Kora said.
“So, I’m in favor of it,” he added.