In response to three racially inflammatory Zoom calls broadcast during the public comment period at a Santa Barbara City Council meeting on October 31, City Hall banned all electronic public comment at council meetings, at least for the time being.
Not everyone is happy about it. Councilmember Oscar Gutierrez objected that there had been no public discussion of the policy change in advance, and that the decision will most affect people of color because, he said, they are the ones least able to take time off work to testify in person at council meetings. “The racists have won,” he said. “We did what they wanted us to do.”
Racist Zoom Callers
