Skip to content

Zoom lacks transparency

Editor: This letter was sent to Sechelt Mayor Darnelda Siegers and council. Zoom disenfranchises so many people in Sechelt.

Editor:

This letter was sent to Sechelt Mayor Darnelda Siegers and council.

Zoom disenfranchises so many people in Sechelt. Example: After trying to watch the Advisory Planning Commission (APC), a friend and I were trying to remember what was said at one point. Unfortunately, we couldn’t check it because once Zoom is over it’s lost and gone permanently!

On the other hand if it had been on YouTube we – and possibly many other people who may have just gotten home from work (if they still had a job) or were just getting dinner ready and would not have been able to watch it on Zoom – could have easily watched it at any other time because YouTube remains on the Sechelt website for a long time with the transcript if needed.

This is absolutely unfair to the people in Sechelt who really have a genuine interest in how all of the decisions are arrived at and who may not have WiFi and rely on their smartphones. Zoom really sucks up your data, which I found out part way through the APC meeting when my phone shut down. This does not happen when I watch the meetings on YouTube because obviously YouTube does not use nearly as much data.

The APC and the other committees such as the Water Resource, Airport Advisory, et al. should all be on YouTube. When something is hidden, rightly or wrongly, it gives the impression of sneakiness and an unwillingness to share discussions and information.

Sechelt, you have said many times that you are open and transparent. So Sechelt, get on it – be open and transparent with your taxpaying citizens and start using YouTube for all meetings!

Pamela J. Jackson, Sechelt