The issue of whether to include an sa国际传媒榦pen micsa国际传媒� segment at Kelowna city council drew passionate debate at its Feb. 13 morning meeting.

Concerns were raised over setting high expectations that council will act on every issue brought forward by the public, special interest groups, and individuals using it as a platform to spread misinformation or defame others.

sa国际传媒淲hat has changed over the past few years, and Isa国际传媒檝e lived this over the past few weeks, is there is a massive amount of misinformation and outright untruths and lies,sa国际传媒� said Coun. Loyal Wooldridge.

sa国际传媒淚 am not going to sit in this place and create a public forum for people to share information that is incorrect, not true or defamatory.sa国际传媒�

Wooldridge added he is very much in favour of giving the public more opportunities to speak to council.

sa国际传媒淚 think we can do a better job of that for very specific subject matter, but I have extreme concerns about an open mic for anyone to discuss whatever they want without that content being vetted.sa国际传媒�

He referenced the recent controversy over Drag Queen Story Time at the Okanagan Regional Library.

sa国际传媒淭he amount of vitriol that I personally have received of untruths was unacceptable. So if we donsa国际传媒檛 have a measured way of managing that, it can become a mess.sa国际传媒�

Staff told council it would need to set parameters for an open mic segment, and in the event of an extreme example of a defamatory or racist comment, the public mic could be turned off.

While he said he understood the concerns put forth by Wooldridge, and others, Coun. Gord Lovegrove was in favour of implementing an open mic policy.

sa国际传媒淭he big thing is the control of the agenda, that to me is the rub,sa国际传媒� added Lovegrove. sa国际传媒淚 donsa国际传媒檛 think itsa国际传媒檚 right of council to be controlling what people want to speak to us about. What are we afraid of?sa国际传媒�

During the debate all of council stated that they made themselves accessible to the public, meeting with people individually or with neighbourhood groups on a regular basis.

sa国际传媒淚 donsa国际传媒檛 sense that the public cansa国际传媒檛 communicate with us,sa国际传媒� said Coun. Luke Stack. sa国际传媒淚 think the public has great access to council.sa国际传媒�

While the issue prompted much debate in chambers, Coun. Maxine DeHart pointed out that there didnsa国际传媒檛 seem to be much public interest.

sa国际传媒淲e hardly have anybody here,sa国际传媒� she said, noting that only a couple of people were in attendance. sa国际传媒淥bviously they are not interested because we have been putting this through the media for weeks.sa国际传媒�

After several back-and-forth comments between councillors, a staff recommendation to expand Committee of the Whole meetings to hear public delegations was voted on and passed, with councillors Lovegrove and Ron Cannan voting against.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 a tool that has been in place many years and it hasnsa国际传媒檛 been used,sa国际传媒� said Cannan.

He then made a motion to implement open mic sessions on a six-month trial basis.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 more access and one more positive step for the public.sa国际传媒�

The motion was defeated by council.

READ MORE: Kelowna council to ponder public comments at regular meetings

gary.barnes@kelownacapnews.com
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