CLEVELAND, Ohio – After a year of meeting remotely, using the Zoom platform on the Internet, Cleveland City Council President Kevin Kelley and several members have said they can’t wait to get back into their meeting rooms and return to normal – away from technical trouble, disruptions, and at times odd behavior.
But those quirks have created some special moments. Here are the highlights.
Who needs 9-1-1?
Councilman Joe Jones, who had been tuning into a recent meeting from his ward office on Lee Road, abruptly excused himself, citing gunfire outside of the building.
Jones said he initially thought he was hearing fireworks, but then realized it was gunshots from across Lee Road – something Cleveland police later confirmed to cleveland.com.
But before leaving the videoconference, Jones put in a police report, conveying the address of the incident to Public Safety Director Karrie Howard, who was speaking to the council at the time.
What was that, again?
Countless times, whoever is chairing a meeting has had to remind members to turn on their microphones when they speak.
Particularly in the early days of the videoconferencing, members would start to talk, but would forget to turn on their sound. Others could see their lips moving, but not hear the message.
Even now, as council members have more than a year of remote meetings under their belt, they still regularly forget – so often that City Council President Kevin Kelley now has a coffee mug emblazoned with the message “Unmute yourself.”
On the road again
Council members sometimes take advantage of the flexibility of virtual meetings to do a little multi-tasking. It is not unusual to see a member of the council on the move during remote meetings.
You can tell because the background changes. Sometimes members start in an office. Later, during the same meeting, you might see them outside – or behind the wheel. A few members have been known to continue participating in meetings via their smart phones while they drive.
A glimpse of personalities
Watching members meet via Zoom can offer a glimpse into their homes and their personalities. Pictures on the walls and books on shelves say something about their tastes.
Others, though, have masked their backgrounds with filters. Councilwoman Phyllis Cleveland, for example, frequently appeared in front of a background that looked like an overgrown jungle.
Councilman Anthony Brancatelli has had the most variation. Initially he appeared in meetings with a background that looked like the City Council’s conference room. That has shifted to other scenes over time, though, including a Cleveland State motif when the school’s team made it into the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Pardon the interruption
In normal times, the City Council meetings have little disruption. Members turn off cell phones in committee meetings. They gather around a table and appear to look engaged.
Oh, and they don’t bring pets to City Hall.
Remote meetings are a different story. Even if cell phones are muted, committee hearings are sometimes interrupted by loud ringing from house phones in the background. And members, who rarely would excuse themselves from an in-person meeting to take an important call, now regularly mute themselves to talk on the phone while meetings are in progress.
Recently Councilman Kerry McCormack apologized for a disruption triggered when someone knocked on his door at home and his dog began barking loudly. And Council President Kevin Kelley frequently would log into meetings while sitting outside on a patio or deck, with birds serenading in the background.
Good morning madam!
During a meeting last summer, Jones became agitated about high grass not being cut on vacant lots in his ward.
He then went about trying to prove his case. Jones took viewers on a tour of his neighborhood, using his cell phone or a tablet computer to show unmowed yards on Zoom.
It was unclear if Jones knew he was muted, but he was animated as he appeared on camera, soundlessly talking about the problem.
This went on for several minutes, with Jones eventually approaching a resident who had stepped out onto her front steps.
One can only wonder what she thought when she suddenly found herself on camera in her house coat.
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May 31, 2021 at 04:31PM
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For Cleveland City Council, months of meeting remotely has had some quirky moments - cleveland.com
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