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COTA says it will stop routinely broadcasting most commission meetings
Summary
COTA announced it will no longer routinely broadcast or record most commission meetings because of staffing, captioning costs and low viewership; staff will notify agencies and consider exceptions for higher-attendance events.
At the meeting Speaker 2 (role/title: Not specified) told commissioners that the city is scaling back live broadcasts of board and commission meetings held in council chambers. "So, this meeting currently is being broadcast, but after tonight, unless COTA has a particular reason to broadcast ... it will not be the plan to broadcast meetings moving into the future," Speaker 2 said, citing staffing needs and the additional cost and time of providing compliant captioning.
Speaker 2 said staff reviewed typical viewership and found most board and commission meetings draw minimal online audiences — "maybe a dozen or two per meeting" — and that the decision was driven by the staffing and captioning burden relative to viewership. The commission discussed limited exceptions, such as broadcasting annual grant hearings or larger public events, and agreed staff would notify COTA agencies and the public. If objections arise, staff will raise the issue with the City Council for further direction.
What happens next: staff will notify affiliated agencies and announce the change at upcoming COTA meetings. The commission left open the possibility of broadcasting specific events by exception and asked staff to solicit feedback from agencies before finalizing a broader policy.
