Mayor’s Message: Keeping Our Meetings Open, Accessible and Secure
By Mayor Janet Wampler - 13 September 2026
One of our most important responsibilities as a city government is making sure residents have a voice.
Whether you attend a City Council or Planning Commission meeting in person, watch from home, or participate electronically, we want you to have a meaningful opportunity to stay informed, ask questions, and engage in the decisions that affect our community. An informed and engaged citizenry makes our city stronger.
That is why the City Council and staff have taken seriously our experience with the electronic meeting platform we currently use, Zoom.
When we launched our electronic meeting participation, the Council intentionally chose Zoom because it was familiar to so many people. Our goal was simple: remove as many barriers as possible and encourage residents to participate in their local government. Although Zoom came with a small additional cost and some security considerations, we believed its widespread familiarity made it the best choice for accessibility.
Unfortunately, our experience has shown us that we need to make a change.
Within the first week of launching our electronic meetings, our Zoom meeting was disrupted by extremely offensive audio and visual material. Our volunteer IT Director immediately responded and implemented additional security measures. These measures worked, but they required manual attention at every meeting.
A couple of months later, the meeting's chat was compromised, exposing participating residents to highly offensive text messages. Again, our volunteer IT Director responded quickly and put additional safeguards in place.
Then, while our IT Director was out of town, a substitute was helping with a recent meeting. The Zoom meeting was once again hacked with offensive audio and visual material. This time, young people were among those watching.
That was particularly upsetting.
City meetings should be open and welcoming to all residents, regardless of age. We are very sorry that anyone, especially young people, was exposed to this material while participating in a public meeting of their local government.
After these repeated incidents, the Council determined that we had reached the point where we needed to make a change. With the advice and recommendation of our IT leadership, the City Council has decided to discontinue Zoom for electronic meeting participation and transition to Microsoft Town Hall and Teams, beginning in October.
We recognize that changing platforms has both advantages and disadvantages. However, after carefully considering the options, we believe the benefits of this change outweigh the drawbacks.
First, the City can use the Microsoft platform without incurring any additional cost.
Second, the security is stronger for our particular needs. Each meeting will have its own unique link, providing an additional layer of protection.
Third, participants will automatically enter the meeting muted. Residents will be able to share audio, video, or text only when the IT Director permits it. This significantly reduces the number of manual security steps required by our volunteer IT team and substitute helpers, which in turn reduces the possibility of human error.
Fourth, we will be able to place meeting links directly within the City's website event calendar. This means residents will no longer need to find the meeting link within a public notice.
And finally, Teams is free for residents to use. If you are joining from a computer, you can click the meeting link and participate without downloading a special program.
We do recognize two drawbacks.
The first is that Teams is not as familiar to people as Zoom. We expect there will be a learning curve for some residents, and we want to make that transition as easy as possible. We will provide information and reminders through the Ogden Valley News, City eblasts, social media, verbal announcements during meetings and other available channels.
The second consideration applies specifically to residents who participate using a mobile phone. Unlike joining from a computer, a phone will require you to download the free Microsoft Teams app. There is no cost to download or use the app; it simply adds one initial step to the process.
Our first meeting using the new platform will be on Monday, October 5.
Please know that this decision was not made lightly. Our top priority remains public participation. We want residents to be able to engage with their local government whether they can attend a meeting in person or not.
Switching from Zoom to Teams is an effort to preserve that accessibility while improving security, reducing costs and making the process easier for our staff and volunteers to manage reliably.
We also know that change can be inconvenient, and we appreciate your patience and flexibility as we navigate this unfortunate chapter in our efforts to provide electronic public participation. If you have questions or need help becoming familiar with the new platform, please reach out to the City. We are happy to help.
Most importantly, please spread the word to your neighbors, family, and friends. We don't want anyone to be caught off guard when the change takes effect. For most residents, particularly those joining from a computer, the process will be very straightforward. The only additional step will be for those participating through a cell phone, who will need to download the free Teams app from your phone’s app store.
Thank you for your understanding, your patience, and most of all, your continued interest in our community.
We want our meetings to be open, secure, and accessible to everyone. Most importantly, we want to hear from you.
Thank you for being engaged citizens and for helping us make our city a better place.
Mayor Janet Wampler
Note: This update was provided by Ogden Valley City as a community service and is independent of The Ogden Valley News.
By Mayor Janet Wampler - 13 September 2026
One of our most important responsibilities as a city government is making sure residents have a voice.
Whether you attend a City Council or Planning Commission meeting in person, watch from home, or participate electronically, we want you to have a meaningful opportunity to stay informed, ask questions, and engage in the decisions that affect our community. An informed and engaged citizenry makes our city stronger.
That is why the City Council and staff have taken seriously our experience with the electronic meeting platform we currently use, Zoom.
When we launched our electronic meeting participation, the Council intentionally chose Zoom because it was familiar to so many people. Our goal was simple: remove as many barriers as possible and encourage residents to participate in their local government. Although Zoom came with a small additional cost and some security considerations, we believed its widespread familiarity made it the best choice for accessibility.
Unfortunately, our experience has shown us that we need to make a change.
Within the first week of launching our electronic meetings, our Zoom meeting was disrupted by extremely offensive audio and visual material. Our volunteer IT Director immediately responded and implemented additional security measures. These measures worked, but they required manual attention at every meeting.
A couple of months later, the meeting's chat was compromised, exposing participating residents to highly offensive text messages. Again, our volunteer IT Director responded quickly and put additional safeguards in place.
Then, while our IT Director was out of town, a substitute was helping with a recent meeting. The Zoom meeting was once again hacked with offensive audio and visual material. This time, young people were among those watching.
That was particularly upsetting.
City meetings should be open and welcoming to all residents, regardless of age. We are very sorry that anyone, especially young people, was exposed to this material while participating in a public meeting of their local government.
After these repeated incidents, the Council determined that we had reached the point where we needed to make a change. With the advice and recommendation of our IT leadership, the City Council has decided to discontinue Zoom for electronic meeting participation and transition to Microsoft Town Hall and Teams, beginning in October.
We recognize that changing platforms has both advantages and disadvantages. However, after carefully considering the options, we believe the benefits of this change outweigh the drawbacks.
First, the City can use the Microsoft platform without incurring any additional cost.
Second, the security is stronger for our particular needs. Each meeting will have its own unique link, providing an additional layer of protection.
Third, participants will automatically enter the meeting muted. Residents will be able to share audio, video, or text only when the IT Director permits it. This significantly reduces the number of manual security steps required by our volunteer IT team and substitute helpers, which in turn reduces the possibility of human error.
Fourth, we will be able to place meeting links directly within the City's website event calendar. This means residents will no longer need to find the meeting link within a public notice.
And finally, Teams is free for residents to use. If you are joining from a computer, you can click the meeting link and participate without downloading a special program.
We do recognize two drawbacks.
The first is that Teams is not as familiar to people as Zoom. We expect there will be a learning curve for some residents, and we want to make that transition as easy as possible. We will provide information and reminders through the Ogden Valley News, City eblasts, social media, verbal announcements during meetings and other available channels.
The second consideration applies specifically to residents who participate using a mobile phone. Unlike joining from a computer, a phone will require you to download the free Microsoft Teams app. There is no cost to download or use the app; it simply adds one initial step to the process.
Our first meeting using the new platform will be on Monday, October 5.
Please know that this decision was not made lightly. Our top priority remains public participation. We want residents to be able to engage with their local government whether they can attend a meeting in person or not.
Switching from Zoom to Teams is an effort to preserve that accessibility while improving security, reducing costs and making the process easier for our staff and volunteers to manage reliably.
We also know that change can be inconvenient, and we appreciate your patience and flexibility as we navigate this unfortunate chapter in our efforts to provide electronic public participation. If you have questions or need help becoming familiar with the new platform, please reach out to the City. We are happy to help.
Most importantly, please spread the word to your neighbors, family, and friends. We don't want anyone to be caught off guard when the change takes effect. For most residents, particularly those joining from a computer, the process will be very straightforward. The only additional step will be for those participating through a cell phone, who will need to download the free Teams app from your phone’s app store.
Thank you for your understanding, your patience, and most of all, your continued interest in our community.
We want our meetings to be open, secure, and accessible to everyone. Most importantly, we want to hear from you.
Thank you for being engaged citizens and for helping us make our city a better place.
Mayor Janet Wampler
Note: This update was provided by Ogden Valley City as a community service and is independent of The Ogden Valley News.