WORCESTER, Mass. - The City of Worcester is changing how people can participate in city council meetings after recent hateful remarks.

Mayor Joe Petty says anyone joining the meetings virtually will be required to have their cameras on and anyone participating over the phone must provide their full phone number.

The changes follow multiple incidents during the public participation portion of meetings, the most recent happening Tuesday when someone who called in virtually used bigoted language and hate speech.

Prior to the announcement, City Manager Eric Batista said he was open to ways to prevent situations like this from happening without taking away access for community members.

"We've made a commitment to try to provide access to the community, we've made a commitment to make sure that we continue the virtual access to the residents, and so we want to figure out how to continue to do that because that’s all about access,” Batista said. “If we can do that in a way that also protects the residents and protects some of the commentary that's happening here in the council chambers, then I think we will be successful."

Petty said he's asking the city clerk to explore other options to ensure city council meetings have respectful discourse.