Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Open Government topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Delta County commissioners reject $2,900 streaming proposal after debate over transparency and staff candor
Summary
Delta County commissioners voted down a proposal to spend up to $2,900 on streaming hardware after a lengthy discussion about public access to meeting materials, ADA compliance and staff willingness to speak candidly when meetings are recorded.
Delta County commissioners voted against purchasing streaming equipment on Tuesday, rejecting a motion to spend up to $2,900 to stream county board meetings.
The motion to approve “not to exceed $2,900 in an effort to be able to stream all county board meetings” failed on a roll call in which Commissioner Johnson, Commissioner Williams, Commissioner Van Ginhoven, Commissioner Jensen and Commissioner Anne Melner recorded No votes.
Supporters said streaming would improve public access and address late agenda packets. Commissioner Williams said the change was sought after residents told her they receive agenda packets “very late in the afternoon right before a commission meeting.” The administrator, Irene Young, said IT staff are working to make documents ADA compliant so materials can be posted to the county website as they arrive rather than scanned and uploaded only after packets are complete.
Opponents said livestreaming could reduce candor by staff and department heads. One commissioner said staff might feel "gun shy" about brainstorming ideas if every exchange is recorded, and that preliminary, exploratory remarks could be taken out of context on social media.
The IT committee had recommended the purchase; committee notes referenced an "owl" camera, a laptop and carrying case, and an estimate of $2,819.32 for the proposed equipment and peripherals. County staff and commissioners also discussed a parallel IT effort to fix packet timing by improving document formatting and ADA accessibility so materials can be posted earlier on the website.
Commissioners asked IT staff to prepare draft language requiring ADA-compliant submissions from vendors for future RFPs and deferred a separate IT recommendation that would require further drafting before coming back to the board.
The board also set a timetable for IT to continue work on packet accessibility: staff said the administrative and technical changes to enable timely, ADA-compliant posting would take roughly two months, with a follow-up for the full board expected next month.
With the motion defeated, the board left the matter open to further IT work on document accessibility and to possible reconsideration of streaming at a later date.
