Flint, MI– Several prank callers got into last night’s city council meeting, shouting obscenities over council people trying to talk.
Councilwoman Monica Galloway said there were “more disruptions in the phone line than we have ever had.”
Typically, people call into the meeting and are muted until it’s time for public comment. Last night, callers came in at various points throughout the meeting, and shouted insults including, “Shut the fuck up,” and “Fuck you, Kate Fields.”
Council President Kate Fields said the calls were “totally unacceptable,” and said she needed to meet with people after the meeting ended to resolve the problem.
Deputy City Clerk Davina Donahue said the callers were coming in anonymously, shouting things, and hanging up before she got the chance to mute them.
She said there was one phone number they could identify, but most of the phone numbers were restricted, so they could not block them from calling into future meetings.
Fields said she would have to talk to the legal department to see what they could do about blocking the people who called in, but in the meantime they have a technological solution.
“There’s a way to set it up so people are muted when they call in, and then you can unmute the public speakers,” she said. “That’s what will happen next time…this will not be allowed. We will find a way to stop it.”