Plugging into the first Orange City Council meeting for 2021 on Tuesday night via Zoom, as she had done since March last year, Cr McRae was repeatedly left listening to silence.

The meeting went for nearly three and a half hours, and on dozens of occasions the sound dropped out.

Despite making a number of gestures that suggested she was being left out of the loop, matters didn't improve.

A peak of 17 people who streamed the meeting on council's YouTube channel also had the sound drop out on numerous occasions, leaving audio holes in the discussions between councillors.

Councillor McRae said she had "one little [internet] glitch" but laid the blame for the lack of sound at some fellow councillors who were too far from their microphone and couldn't be heard.

"It's quite typical that councillors don't speak into the microphone," she said.

"That's been a problem since I've been on council.

"It's obvious in the chamber because the microphones light up with a red light when they're working and the councillors are speaking closer to them."

Councillor McRae said she had been attending council meetings via Zoom as a public safety measure.

"I work in a general practice - I'm on the front line of services," she said.

"My decision is because I'm screening 150 people a day.

"I'm not comfortable then going into a chamber, particularly with older people, some with their own personal health conditions, that I might be putting at risk.

"I'm respectful of my fellow councillors' health and well-being, which is why I'm not attending meetings, and also not attending large gatherings in the community."

If the NSW government rescinded the ability of councillors to attend meetings virtually when the current agreement lapsed in March, Cr McRae was unsure how she would react.

"I will have to deal with that at the time."

She said that although she wasn't able to hear all the discussions between councillors, "I vote on the recommendation that's in front of me, or the amendments, and I make sure I know what we're voting on".

Asked whether she would stand at September's council election, Cr McRae said she was still "weighing her options".

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