Letter to the Editor: Urging the Town to Embrace Hybrid Technology
A letter to the editor in favor of making town-wide meetings hybrid-accessible
Dear Editor,
On Thursday March 27th the Burlington School Committee held a meeting to discuss the Burlington High School building project. The meeting was held in the high school auditorium. Since I was unable to attend in-person I asked the committee if there would be remote access so I, and others, could attend virtually. The committee said there would be no remote access but the meeting could be viewed on BCAT, so I replied that that wouldn't allow me or others to actively participate. There was no response to this last exchange, so I sent the committee the following email:
"Since I haven't gotten a response to this email I presume there will be no Webex accessibility. Why is it that the rest of the known universe holds hybrid meetings as a matter of course but Burlington fights tooth and nail against it? This is the 21st century you know. I find it ironic that this meeting is being held in the high school auditorium that is fully equipped to do hybrid meetings and would be a good experience for high school student to get involved. Burlington prides itself on being the high tech center of the area but doesn't want to be high tech itself. I participate in a boatload of hybrid meetings, one, run by the Jewish War Veterans whose average age has got to be 80, others by ballet and dance instructors with no technical backgrounds. I'm extremely frustrated that something that should be a no-brainer runs into so much resistance."
The response to this was that I could text questions to Chris Monaco. I did text a comment to Chris who read it to the meeting attendees, but this is not very satisfying as it does not allow for having a real-time conversation or for asking follow-up questions. In any case, Kim Negron, a community member, spoke at the meeting and what she said makes my case. Here is the pertinent verbiage:
"I am here tonight representing 300 people who have signed a petition... ... Parents like me with young children and doing all the things taking care of family members etc. can't always come in-person to these meetings like everybody else..."
Need I say more?
David Miller, Gloria Circle
