Following phone calls with hate speech during a June Sequim city council meeting, councilors and city staff have implemented a new procedure for remote public comments for council meetings.

This month, community members who want to make a remote public comment via Zoom or by phone must register on the city’s website at sequimwa.gov/1219/Submit-Public-Comments by 3 p.m. the day of the meeting.

City staff said the new registration process is designed to streamline and enhance the public comment experience for everyone involved.

Sequim started offering the council meetings online during the Covid-19 pandemic and continues to offer them hybrid, in-person and online, while posting them to YouTube once each meeting finishes.

Those in-person can continue to comment at public meetings and sign in at a table inside the council chambers.

Written comments are also accepted by mail, Attention: City Clerk to the Sequim Civic Center, 152 W. Cedar St, Sequim, WA, 98382; or by email to clerk@sequimwa.gov.

Mayor Brandon Janisse stopped a public hearing on June 10 after three callers who appeared to have given false names and addresses said racist and bigoted phrases.

It’s the second occurrence at a Sequim council meeting following a November 2023 meeting where callers in the public comment section used hate speech before then-Mayor Tom Ferrell closed the public hearing.

Councilors suspended public comments on June 24 as they awaited solutions from city staff to prevent future comments with hate speech.

News outlets statewide have reported on similar occurrences happening at other municipalities’ meetings, which Sequim city attorney Kristina Nelson-Gross echoed.

The Sequim City Council meets at 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Mondays of each month.