LIVONIA, Mich. (WXYZ) — Some residents in Livonia say physically attending city council meetings is a challenge, particularly for those with disabilities. Now, city leaders are looking at ways to make participation more accessible.
Watch Christiana Ford's video report:
Long-time Livonia resident Kathleen Bilger says the journey to city hall is not easy for her.
"It's too hard for me to get in there," Bilger said.
Bilger has a knee injury she says limits her ability to attend meetings in person.
"I very seldom get to go to city council meetings actually," Bilger said.
Currently, residents who do not attend council meetings in person can only watch a livestream through YouTube or Livonia Television, but they cannot participate in audience comment.
"People have to be able to speak to their politicians, to the councilmen that represent them. Zoom will allow them to poll the audience, to put comments in the chat that they can read later. It will allow for audience communications, which is not possible with city cable TV," Bilger said.
Council Vice President Patrick Brockway says the city is now seriously looking into allowing Zoom as an option.
"It was utilized during the pandemic, so it can be done. It's being done in other cities, so I know it can be done," Brockway said.
Brockway asked the city administration to review what it would take to make it happen and present findings to council members Monday night.
"What we're hoping to get tonight is an answer to not only what are potential costs and barriers that the city may have identified, but how can we overcome it. And that's what I'm hoping myself, fellow council members, and the administration can come together and let's find solutions," Brockway said.
Web extra: Livonia City Council vice president talks about request for Zoom option for meetings
Other community members say they are grateful the conversation is happening.
"A lot of people can't get to the council meeting. I've been to several, but I can't get to all of them, but to have it on a Zoom and even be able to comment that way would be very helpful to a lot of people," Sally Del Vecchio said.
Bilger agrees the change is overdue.
"I think it's a very long time coming. We've had Zoom for a long time, and it's about time the city got with the modern times," Bilger said.
Brockway says the city has reviewed the topic for the past six months. He says the findings will be shared at the City Hall Auditorium Monday night.
"There's always going to be a little bit of give and take here, but we have to consider what are we doing to help the residents. I think that's our responsibility as a city is to look to make sure that our residents have equal accessibility, that their civil rights guarantee under Title II and such, and there's a lot of things to process with that, but that's what I'm hoping tonight we're going to talk about," Brockway said.
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