Cities strengthen rules of decorum For public comments

Shoreline City Council 2023
Back row from left: Councilmembers Doris McConnell (former), John Ramsdell, Eben Pobee, Deputy Mayor Laura Mork, Mayor Chris Roberts; Front row from left: Betsy Robertson, Keith Scully, Not pictured: Councilmember Annette Ademasu

By Oliver Moffat

At the Monday, January 22, 2024 Shoreline City Council meeting, the council voted without discussion to amend its rules on decorum to clarify the definition of disruptive comments and restrict the content of public comments to topics related to city business. Residents will now be allowed to speak on topics only germane to city business.

The new rules follow a region-wide surge of hate speech attacks (commonly referred to as “zoom bombing” by online “trolls”) and a series of disorderly public hearings in Kenmore that prompted that city to also implement stricter decorum rules.

Shoreline Area News reported previously on the surge of anonymous users dialing in to city council meetings across the region with disruptive hate speech that was not related to any topic under discussion.

After an instance of “zoom bombing” in October, the Kenmore City Council temporarily suspended virtual public comments before implementing a pre-registration requirement for virtual public comments. Since making the switch, the city has not had any more attacks, according to Kenmore’s Deputy City Clerk.

Trolls have disrupted meetings in all local cities.
This troll was crafted by LFP resident Josh Rosenau.

As reported in the MLT News and Lynnwood Today, in response to repeated instances of hateful, disruptive and racist comments the Cities of Mountlake Terrace and Lynnwood now require speakers to register at least 24 hours in advance to make virtual public comments. 

After registering, the cities provide meeting login instructions via the commenter’s preferred contact method.

According to an email from the Edmonds City Clerk’s Office, Edmonds does not require citizens to signup in advance to make virtual public comments, but the host can mute public speakers.

The Lake Forest Park City Council has experienced hate-speech “zoom bombing” attacks; most recently on the November 9 and January 11 meetings. 

In emailed comments, Lake Forest Park’s City Clerk said the city has strengthened rules for public comments to items on the agenda or items the Council has purview or control over. The city requires speakers to register in advance and quickly cuts off speakers who violate the rules of decorum. (A previous version of this article mistakenly reported that Lake Forest Park has not experienced “zoom bombing” attacks. That was an error and has been corrected).

Shoreline does not require citizens to preregister to make virtual public comments.

Shoreline’s new decorum rules also follow a series of raucous public hearings in Kenmore regarding a proposal to build affordable housing. As reported earlier, at a nine hour meeting on Monday, December 11, Kenmore’s Mayor Nigel Herbig struggled at times to maintain order and decorum.

The Kenmore City Council passed new rules in January on decorum for public comments that restrict comments to agenda topics, forbid interruptions such as shouting, booing, and sign waving, and give the council the authority to expel people engaging in disorderly conduct from the council chambers.

1-24-2024 Correction: Information about Lake Forest Park's experience with 'zoom bombing' and their response has been correction.