Vandergrift residents frustrated over portions of online council meetings being muted

Vandergrift’s online council meeting went silent for several minutes Monday night after discussion involving some council members grew heated, drawing criticism from some residents.

The audio function on the Zoom broadcast was muted for several minutes after the council discussion became heated around 8:30 p.m. A few residents attending the virtual meeting accused Councilman John Uskuraitis of muting the discussion.

An unidentified man asked Uskuraitis to restore audio immediately, stating that council meetings are public and muting isn’t allowed.

When reached for comment after the meeting, Uskuraitis confirmed that he handles hosting duties for virtual council meetings, but said the muting was accidental and wasn’t deliberate or due to discussions among council members.

“What happened is, I hit the ‘mute all’ button due to there being open microphones during the meeting,” Uskuraitis said.

He said 30 to 40 people were participating in the Zoom meeting.

Council meetings have been held virtually since May 2020.

Uskuraitis said that during virtual meetings, residents may only address council members, with a three-minute limit, during the visitor portion of the meeting offered after the approval of the minutes.

“There’s been problems with the virtual meetings since the get-go,” said Councilman Lenny Collini. “I can’t wait to go back to in-person meetings.”

Uskuraitis said when he realized the meeting had been muted, he worked quickly to correct the problem, but didn’t address the public about what had occurred after the audio was restored.

“I didn’t think it was the time to explain it,” Uskuraitis said.

Act 15 was passed in 2020 allowing local agencies to conduct meetings virtually, but only during the covid-19 pandemic.

Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, said Pennsylvania’s Sunshine Act still applies.

“The law is very clear when an agency relies on advanced communication technology it has to function,” Melewsky said. “I’ve heard of similar problems cropping up. A lot of these agencies are not tech-savvy.”

Melewsky said the law requires public meetings and, if the technology isn’t working, other virtual meeting platforms such as YouTube, Facebook Live or a conference call by phone may be used.

She added that anyone attending a virtual meeting has a right to record the meeting.

Uskuraitis said some borough residents have been speaking out of turn.

“I use that button to prevent (members of the public) from speaking and when people log in to the meeting they are automatically muted, but some people unmute their button,” he said.

Uskuraitis explained meeting protocol ultimately lies with the council president.

“There was no intention to mute out the open mikes,” Uskuraitis said.

When asked about previous muted moments during some virtual council meetings, Uskuraitis blamed internet connection issues.

Vandergrift Heights resident David Hill said he’d like to see the muting issue resolved.

“We should be able to access the whole meeting at all times,” Hill said.

“I’d like to be able to record the meeting so I can watch it at a later time, but the settings on the Zoom meeting do not allow it,” Hill said. “I’m ready for the in-person meetings to resume because during the virtual ones, council can mute someone anytime. But when you’re in person, you can keep asking questions.”

Vandergrift resident Marilee Kessler said transparency during council meetings should always be a priority.

“I feel appalled that happened. Residents at a public meeting have every right to observe and hear the proceedings,” Kessler said.