Wednesday 20 May 2020, 10:00 PM
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ARNHEM –
The digital council meeting in Arnhem ended on Wednesday evening. This would not work, chairman Ahmed Marcouch concluded after a good hour of suspensions, lengthy moods and, above all, faltering cameras and microphones.
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Meeting in digital form is therefore not yet a resounding success in the Rijnstad. ‘Shameful for Arnhem’, councilor René Kraaijenbrink (Arnhem Central) shouts at one of the moments when the microphones were audibly open. And that the meeting had better be ended, everyone agreed on that at the time.
Also see: Digital council meetings: ‘Do not get anywhere anymore’
‘Dijk fell out of the meeting’
“Dijk has fallen out of the meeting,” reports Maarten Venhoek (D66) after fifteen minutes when he sees that his party member Sjoerd Dijk has lost the connection. Just before that, Klaartje van Dillen (CDA) announced that she wanted to raise her hand via the app to get the floor. “If that doesn’t work, I’m going to open the microphone.”
‘This was useless,’ Eric Greving (PvdA) says afterwards. ‘If the technology works, digital meetings are not ideal, but that’s it. This was not possible. ” Shameful that the technology was not organized well enough, says Coen Verheij (PVV). And according to him, the right technology is indeed available.
‘Question of perseverance’
“It is unbelievable,” says Sabine Andeweg (D66). “We could have just had a physical meeting. That is a matter of persevering and ensuring that the space meets the RIVM guidelines. You don’t have to take weeks to do that. “
Physically again next week
“The positive result is that we are going to have a physical meeting again,” Sarah Dobbe (SP) looks at the ‘debacle’ on the bright side. Because that is the intention. Marcouch announces that the agenda will be moved to next week. Then the town hall must be ready to bring the city council back together in physical form.
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