To the Concord community,

Thursday evening, the Finance Committee experienced a vile Zoom Bombing incident during its regularly scheduled meeting.  The subject matter was antisemitic in content and deeply offensive.  I, along with several other staff members, were witness to the incident and recognize how upsetting it was to those who saw and heard it, particularly to members of our Jewish community.  I’d like to extend my deep apologies to all who were witness to these vulgar and disturbing actions, and especially to the members of our Finance Committee, and those in attendance at last evening’s meeting.   Equally disturbing was a similar incident at a recent ZBA meeting.

Hate speech of any kind is antithetical to our values, and while our board and committee meetings are open and accessible to the public, hate speech has no place in these meetings, and will not be tolerated.  Further, we strongly condemn any expressions of hate speech in the public arena.  

To address this unwelcome behavior, we will continue to work in collaboration with our town counsel, technology team, and communication manager, to update guidance to those scheduling and facilitating Zoom meetings on best practices for mitigating these incidences.  Additional guidance and training will be provided for managing Zoom meetings. 

The commitment by Town staff and committee members to serve the public remains steadfast, especially during incidences intended to disrupt the work of our valuable committees and town departments.  

Sincerely,

Kerry Lafleur
Town Manager