Carpentersville trustees debate use of video in meetings
This story has been updated to properly identify Trustee Brenda Sandoval.
For years, Carpentersville residents were able to keep tabs on their village board from the comfort of their own home by catching video of the meetings on the village's YouTube channel.
However, that came to an end in July, and at least one village board member is content with keeping it that way. Other board members are open to bringing video back or offering another option, such as Zoom, so residents can participate in meetings.
As trustees at Tuesday's board meeting discussed video options, Trustee John O'Sullivan pointed back to widely viewed videos shared by a blogger with titles like "Most Outrageous Government Board meeting EVER!!!" The videos, which hearken back to the days of former Village President Bill Sarto's administration between 2005 and 2009, show the tense moments and outbursts during village board meetings.
A village YouTube channel offers videos of in-person board meetings dating back to 2016. However, video of in-person meetings stopped after the July 6, 2021, board meeting. In his comments Tuesday, O'Sullivan referenced a meeting last year in which some board members departed from the rules of decorum and raised concern that the board would see a return to the past and be at the center of a blogger's attacks.
"I don't want a repeat of that," O'Sullivan said. "This board has worked hard to get past those days."
Still, other trustees supported a return to video or offering residents a remote option to view or participate in village board meetings.
Trustee Brenda Sandoval said videos of the meetings show the good the village is doing and provide residents another way to get information about what is happening in Carpentersville. She said not all residents can attend village board meetings in person.
"We shouldn't take away from the residents who may want to watch," Sandoval said.
O'Sullivan, however, said the village is not required to video board meetings and is meeting all the requirements of the Illinois Open Meetings Act. O'Sullivan also questioned the reach of the videos, noting that recent videos drew few views.
"If I thought it was grandma watching and she couldn't get here, that's one thing," he said. "But I don't think that's who is watching."
Referring to the blogger, O'Sullivan said he did not want to "feed the monster by making it easier for them to attack" the board. O'Sullivan, who said he was not trying to censor anyone, added that anyone is welcome to attend the meeting in person.
"It's an open meeting. We're not hiding from anyone," he said.
Trustee Jim Malone, however, argued the village should not give in to bullies and that ending video recording has "bad optics" for the village.
"It looks bad, and quite frankly, it looks like we're trying to hide something when we're not," Malone said.
Village President John Skillman said the village is reviewing options for video or remote participation in meetings. He expected the board to continue discussions in upcoming village board meetings.