Jacob Dimond / jake@yelmonline.com
During a Yelm City Council meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 26, councilors elected to maintain the current study session format, away from YouTube, along with favoring a more face-to-face setting during study sessions by sitting at a roundtable rather than the dais.
Yelm City Clerk Kathy Linnemeyer explained the purpose of the deliberation period at the council meeting last Tuesday.
“In December of 2024, council voted to discontinue recording and livestreaming the study sessions. People can still join virtually into the meetings,” Linnemeyer said. “There was also a decision to sit at the roundtable in a more casual setting instead of up at the dais.”
The first discussion, during a deliberation period at the meeting on Aug. 26, was to decide if Yelm city councilors should continue sitting at the roundtable during meetings rather than at the dais. According to several of the councilors, sitting at the roundtable allows for more productive conversations with the council able to face and see each other during discussion.
According to Linnemeyer, one of the existing issues is with where the roundtable is seated inside City Hall and the recording technology’s inability to capture the full scope of council in the shot. She noted only one or two councilors are visible in the frame while those meetings are recorded.
“If we want to livestream and record, we’ll have to look at the new cameras, which IT can do, and we’ve had conversations with them about that,” Linnemeyer said. “It might just take a little bit of time. Obviously, they won’t be able to do that instantly.”
Councilor Brian Hess motioned to continue sitting at the roundtable rather than the dais, and Councilor Joshua Crossman seconded the motion. Councilors Tracey Wood, Stephanie Kangiser, Brian Hess, David Johnstone and Terry Kaminski voted in favor of remaining at the roundtable, while councilors Joseph Richardson and Crossman voted against it.
Wood then motioned to review the study session format “for the purpose of council and admin.” He said the sessions could be made available to the public, but not livestreamed on YouTube like regular Yelm City Council meetings. Hess seconded the motion.
“What we discussed, if you recall at the retreat, the study sessions are our opportunity to really dive in and dig in without the concern that something will be perceived as us doing official business,” Wood said. “Because our study sessions have grown to resemble council meetings so much, in the community there’s some confusion.”
He added that study sessions are opportunities for the council to gather, talk and gain perspective on the items on the table. Wood believes livestreaming study sessions creates a situation where there’s “quite a bit of unnecessary backlash.”
“Some of the concern about when we did this was that we were trying to be less than clear about what we’re up to. Which is of course why after our discussions, my opinion has been clarified that it’s not about recording them. Record them. Make it available to people,” Wood said. “If folks want to come in on a Zoom meeting, that’s great. They’re interested in coming in and seeing what we’re doing. There’s still an opportunity for them to sit in the audience and observe what we’re up to.”
Councilors Wood, Richardson, Crossman, Kangiser, Hess and Johnstone each voted in favor of keeping the study session format the same, while Kaminski was the only vote against the current structure.
