10/05/2025
ALDERMAN DWAYNE VOLKMAN CLARIFIES LIVESTREAMING VOTE
Lawrenceville Alderman Dwayne Volkman has released a public statement clarifying his vote on the August 2025 motion concerning LIVESTREAMING of city council meetings, following what he described as a misleading report in The Daily Record.
The report stated that the motion “allowing the public to livestream on their phones and post to social media without consent from the city” passed 7–1, with Volkman voting against it.
Volkman said this wording made it sound as though he voted against the public’s right to livestream — a right already guaranteed under Illinois law and the First Amendment. His vote, he explained, was against the motion’s wording, not against public livestreaming itself.
“The motion cleverly sidestepped the real issue,” Volkman said. “The question isn’t whether the public can livestream — they already can. The question is whether the CITY will take responsibility to provide an OFFICIAL LIVESTREAM and ARCHIVE of council meetings.”
Volkman added that while private citizens can record and share meetings, those videos can later be deleted, restricted, or blocked. A CITY-RUN LIVESTREAM, he said, ensures equal access, consistency, captions for accessibility, and a permanent public record.
“I voted NO because I believe the City of Lawrenceville should provide that level of transparency and accountability,” Volkman said. “In short, I STAND FOR THE CITY taking responsibility for livestreaming our meetings — not for passing motions that appear supportive while actually avoiding responsibility.”
