Porn and profanity interrupt latest City Council committee
A virtual committee meeting of the Lansing City Council was unexpectedly canceled this morning after a guest flooded the Zoom call with pornography and racial slurs.
Zoom bombers derail committee meeting on healthcare changes
FRIDAY, Oct. 2 — A virtual committee meeting of the Lansing City Council was unexpectedly canceled this morning after a guest flooded the Zoom call with pornography and racial slurs.
The Council’s Committee on Ways and Means was about 15 minutes into a special meeting this morning to discuss changes to retiree healthcare benefits when a brief panic ensued. One of the participants of the virtual meeting — whose identity still remains a mystery — screenshared a series of strange pornographic images and repeatedly shouted profanity, namely the N-word.
Committee Chairwoman Carol Wood’s jaw dropped before Council President Peter Spadafore quickly assumed virtual controls and adjourned the online meeting. And since Council meetings must be posted in advance to comply with the Open Meetings Act, the profane interruption ultimately postponed the meeting for an entire week. It’s now set for 8:30 a.m. Oct. 9.
“I think it’s unfortunate that this is the reality we face where some folks just refuse to act naturally and responsibly and instead choose to derail this entire process,” Spadafore added. “This was like the virtual equivalent of a fire. We just left the room and ended the meeting.”
This isn’t the first time an uninvited guest disrupted a Council meeting. It’s just the only time it successfully postponed one. In other instances, Spadafore said he has always been around to mute the more obnoxious guests or to implement more restrictions to prevent interruptions.
More than 1,300 retirees were reportedly blindsided last week after Mayor Andy Schor’s administration announced it would modify its existing healthcare plans to mirror that of cheaper plans for its current staff. Today’s meeting was designed to answer questions about the changes. The more than 80 guests on today’s call will now have to wait another week.
The changes will reportedly save the city about $8 million as officials grapple with nearly $737 million in unfunded pension and retiree health care liabilities, usually the city’s largest budgetary burden. Pre-Medicare retirees will maintain coverage with BCBSM or PHP; Medicare retirees will migrate to Humana. The city has also set up a hardship fund for low-income retirees.
As part of the adjustments, benefits for retirees will more closely match those of current employees — like making generic copays $10 and doctor visits $30. Still, many city retirees have complained about broken promises and a general lack of collaboration with union leaders. It appeared many were lined up to voice complaints before today’s meeting was adjourned.
