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Council balks at proposal to give Service Electric exclusive rights to stream council meetings
Summary
Administration discussed a proposed amendment that would grant Service Electric exclusive publishing rights to council meetings and remove YouTube access; council members pushed back, calling fee‑based access to public meetings inappropriate and urging IT or in‑house solutions.
County administration described a proposed change to the existing broadcasting contract with Service Electric that would give Service Electric exclusive rights to publish council meetings, and would remove those recordings from the county’s YouTube channel. Administration said the amendment came from Service Electric (through Scott Cannon) and that the company’s model would require residents to have a subscription to watch meetings on Service Electric.
Multiple council members expressed strong objections. Councilmember Stevenson said she regularly uses YouTube to review meetings and that charging residents a subscription for access to public meetings “is absurd.” Miss McDermott, Mr. Thornton and others said the county’s IT department could likely host recordings or post them on the county website to preserve free public access. Staff noted the Service Electric contract predates the current administration and that the proposal would require evaluating alternative hosting or the ability to put recordings on the county website.
No final decision was recorded in the transcript; council asked staff to explore IT options for hosting and to consider the public-access implications before voting on any exclusivity amendment.
