City of Yuma invites public to ‘Zoom’ in on city council meeting

City council is testing a pilot program using Zoom technology to engage with the public

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Throughout the peak of this global pandemic, Zoom Video Communications have experienced explosive growth with well over a 500% spike in usage.

In an effort to enhance public participation in city council meetings while public health restrictions remain in place, the City of Yuma is conducting a pilot program for residents to try for this Wednesday's meeting.

The City of Yuma's regularly scheduled city council meetings is typically held at City Hall in downtown Yuma.

However, as the city pivots with the societal changes since COVID-19, the city council is adjusting meetings to adapt to the future.

Dave Nash from the City of Yuma, said, “That’s a future where people interact largely and almost exclusively on for example mobile devices.”

One thing that has come in handy during this period of social distancing is technology.

People are becoming accustomed to video chatting more than ever before.

The city council is testing a pilot program using Zoom technology to allow residents to comment on agenda items or participate in the call to the public.

It’ll be a trial run to see how many people would be interested and how it’ll work.

Nash said the city will be making adjustments to make it easier for citizens to contact the council via this Zoom platform.

As we all know, even technology can be unpredictable and unreliable.

“We don’t want you to expect to have everything work perfectly the first time we try something. In some cases, we are not going to be able to account for connections on the citizen's end. There's just nothing we can do about that,” said Nash.

To access the meeting, direct your web browser to cityofyuma.zoom.us and then click on “Calendar.”

Select the City meeting and click “Join” to enter the meeting on your device or use one of the published phone numbers to join the meeting by phone.

You may be prompted for your name and email address.

As usual, locals must still submit your call to the public comments via email prior to Wednesday's 5:30 pm meeting.

Residents are always able to view the meeting in real-time on the city’s Channel 73.