SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Almost 24 hours after a Springfield city council meeting ended in raised voices, accusations, and general chaos, the city said a communications glitch kept two people’s requests for public comment time from reaching the clerk’s office. That’s the tl;dr version of the city’s statement, issued late Thursday.

Under Mayor Misty Buscher, people seeking the microphone must register 24 hours before the meeting. Predecessor Jim Langfelder generally did not adhere to that rule, nor did he enforce a five-minute time limit which then and now is in place.

The city’s statement:

“Following the Wednesday, November 4th Springfield City Council meeting, at the direction of Mayor Buscher, the City Clerk’s Office and the Information Systems Division (ISD) conducted a thorough review of all internal call logs, emails, and applications utilized by constituents to request to address the City Council.

“The review found that two individuals who submitted requests to speak electronically via the Clerk’s website did not make it to the final speaker list due to a Microsoft365 Exchange communication error.

“While the online form on the City Clerk’s website remained open to end users, the system was not functioning properly, and notification was not sent to the Clerk’s office. The investigation showed that a process break between a server and Microsoft365 Exchange did not allow all constituent submissions to generate either the necessary confirmation emails or notifications to the Clerk’s Office.

“Instead, a message was auto-generated stating, ‘Your request has been sent to the Clerk’s office but there was an issue sending a confirmation email.’

“The City Clerk’s Office and ISD are immediately making process improvements to limit the possibility of this issue reoccurring. These improvements include reviewing and correcting proper system access permissions, establishing additional verification procedures, and updating the automated message to provide clearer instructions to constituents, including contacting the Clerk’s office by phone if a confirmation email is not received.

“The City, City Clerk, and Mayor’s office remain committed to following the Open Meetings Act, City Council Rules of Procedure, and the Conduct policy within Council Chambers.”

The main subject of Wednesday’s public comment was police misconduct, including the arrest last month of a lieutenant accused of driving under the influence.