A screenshot from a recent Petaluma city council meeting.

Officials in Petaluma are recommending against restoring the public's ability to speak during meetings, unless they physically in the room.

It's been a little more than a month since Petaluma ceased taking live public comment on meeting items via the remote-conferencing software Zoom, a policy sparked by repeated disruptions from callers phoning-in racial epithets.

At a meeting three weeks ago, officials were asked to research ways to bring live public comment back. According to a report prepared for the council, information provided by Zoom, although disruptive calls originated from outside the region and state, the report notes that its fairly easy to spoof one's location on line, suggesting using geography to lock out distant callers may prove ineffective.

An alternative: allowing comment only on specific items---and not general comments, or allowing comment on proclamations and presentations, would more likely result in disruptive comments and legal challenges, according to the report prepared for council.

City staff are recommending the council leave things as they are and not resume live remote public comment.