The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Late night discussion gets a bit heated…
By Kendra Walker
At the end of an eight-hour meeting that included a work session, major planned unit development public hearing and regular meeting on January 7, the Mt. Crested Butte town council in a split vote decided to uphold its current policy regarding virtual attendance by council members, which does not allow council members to participate or vote virtually when they are unable to attend in person.
Since establishing a Zoom setup for the public to tune in to town meetings virtually, a result from the COVID-19 pandemic, the council has discussed on numerous occasions whether to allow council members to virtually participate in discussions and vote. Given the council has three new members from the November 2024 election, they revisited the topic at the January 7 meeting.
The discussion of virtual council attendance did not begin until after 11 p.m. and council members were tired. However, they pressed on and discussed their varying positions.
Council members Roman Kolodziej, Valeda Scribner and Bruce Nation advocated for accommodating the realities of life and allowing council members to virtually attend a couple times a year if needed for illness or emergencies. Kolodziej has been in favor of virtual attendance in previous debates. Those in favor agreed there should be parameters, such as a maximum number of meetings each council member can take virtually in one year and not allowing multiple council members to attend remotely at the same meeting.
“Why is this a thing we’re against?” asked Scribner. “It evens the playing field and allows for a more equitable conversation.”
“Virtual is not necessarily a four-letter word,” said Kolodziej, noting that it would be two or three meetings a year out of 24. “I’m not talking about opening up the door for people to be fully virtual.”
Mayor Nicholas Kempin from the beginning has had a firm stance on in-person participation, noting civic duty and the inevitable technology issues that come from hybrid in-person/virtual meetings. Council members Alec Lindeman and Steve Morris agreed.
“We’re elected to serve the public in the very best forum we can give the public. If we had a remote counselor, no one would be able to see that person. You don’t get facial expressions, feedback, see if they’re paying attention,” said Kempin. “It’s a different meeting. That counselor that is remote is attending a different meeting than the one we’re having here. We have a very conversational style with our meetings that I think is wonderful and leads to the best policy discussions and debates. No matter how good the technology is, it won’t pick up side conversations. A hybrid meeting is two separate meetings with different information and perceptions that can be gathered at the same time.”
“We all agree that we believe in-person attendance is best across the board because we’re all in the room together,” said Scribner. “The reality of life is there are things that will take us away from time to time. I think it’s reasonable that we can accommodate that with our current technology. It’s essentially volunteering to be on town council. What we get paid is not enough, we all have to have another job,” she said, explaining that her work sometimes takes her out of town.
“If I vote for somebody to be on council, I’m voting for them to be here,” said Alec Lindeman.
“My concern is the voters voted us to be their voice in these meetings and if I have a vacation or emergency, why silence that voice?” asked Nation. “The one or two exceptions a year adds that little bit of flexibility when there’s something you care about but can’t make it. I don’t think it’s disruptive enough not to allow it.”
“It’s 24 days a year that you need to be physically present in Mt. Crested Butte,” said Kempin. “The council goes to extraordinary lengths to accommodate council members and issues that they are passionate about. We have rescheduled meetings, pushed agenda items and rescheduled things so we could have those people here. Even when that hasn’t worked, we’ve brought up that person’s viewpoint.”
“We all bring something very unique to the table and skill sets and experience that might carry a lot of weight in a discussion,” said Scribner. “I think the best is in-person but there are times there are demands that make that impossible.”
When asked for her position, council member Bobbie Sferra sided with the town’s current policy. “I live in a little community and I think that personal touch is critical to communicating with your public. I signed up to be here for every meeting and I don’t think you have a real conversation when you’re doing stuff virtually,” she said.
“It’s not what’s best for the public,” said Kempin. “What I’m hearing is that virtual participation is what’s best for counselors and their travel plans or lifestyle. We sit as judges. What do you think it would be like to be here in person as a member of the public and see some of us in person but not be able to see others of us because they’re a little tiny dot on the screen? You have someone who you can’t see and is going to be a vote to decide your fate.”
“Judges make decisions virtually all the time, don’t they?” Kolodziej asked town attorney Gerald Dahl, who was attending the meeting virtually on Zoom and has provided legal counsel to the council virtually for the past two years. Dahl confirmed that judges have been holding both virtual and hybrid hearings since the pandemic.
“Some of the challenges brought up are valid, but also navigable,” said Kolodziej. “If somebody is willing to participate and they’re able to, then that’s what’s important.”
“This is wild to me because we’ve made all these exceptions for you. We did so much to accommodate you when you were absent on and off for a period of time,” Morris said to Kolodziej.
This led to a heated argument between Kolodziej and Morris.
“What I’m hearing is we can talk about this longer, but we’re not changing anybody’s minds,” said town manager Carlos Velado, proposing the council take a vote.
Lindeman made a motion to continue with the same policy that does not allow council members to participate or vote in meetings virtually. The vote passed 4-3, with Kempin, Morris, Lindeman and Sferra voting in favor, and Kolodziej, Scribner and Nation voting against.
The meeting adjourned at midnight.
