

Editorial: Brown Co. plan for taping meetings doesn't go far enough

9:54 PM, Sep. 29, 2012  |  Comments
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The Brown County Board next month will consider a proposal of recording committee meetings and posting them to the Internet.

The county's Public Safety Committee approved the plan Thursday night. While we like the idea, we're a little concerned about what is left out.

The proposal calls for taping five of the six standing committees of the Brown County Board. The Planning, Development and Transportation Committee would be left out because it doesn't meet in the room where the camera is set up.

The proposal also doesn't include recording County Board meetings.

The County Board chairman, Patrick Moynihan, said: "I see this as taking a baby step. If it works out, we could expand it."

Why is the county taking baby steps? Why isn't it running to embrace this technology in the interest of transparency and open government?

We know the technology works. We've seen it work for other municipalities and school boards. So why must Brown County take a cautious approach on this? It doesn't make sense to us, especially when we consider this:

? It's not such cutting-edge technology that the county couldn't afford it. Ten, 15, 20 years ago, this might have been ground-breaking or rare, thus making it cost-prohibitive.

The cost for the proposal - installing video cameras and audio recorders in a meeting room - is $60,000. That's 0.02 percent of a $278 million annual county budget.

? It's not uncommon. Other government bodies have been doing this for years. Smaller governmental bodies, such as the Shawano County Board and the Pulaski School Board, record and post their meetings. Why must Brown County, therefore, start little and wait to see whether it works before expanding? It does work. We've seen it in action.

? Including County Board meetings would seem fairly simple. The board already meets in the same room as the Green Bay City Council, which tapes its meetings and posts them to the Internet. So the technology is there already. It seems it would take a conversation between the county and the city to get this going.

Back in July we urged the committee to get moving on this, and to do it sooner rather than later. We still believe that. We applaud the committee for the baby steps, but we believe they should be taking bigger steps. We believe the county should consider live-streaming - for an additional $15,000 - and should include recording County Board meetings.

The way people get their information is evolving. We in the media can attest to that. Governmental bodies need to adjust to this changing, digital world. Allowing Brown County residents to watch live proceedings of County Board meetings from home helps the democratic process and provides an indisputable record of the event.

Currently, County Board meetings are recorded and broadcast later on cable television. But that requires appointment viewing. The beauty of Internet viewing is that you can tune in when it's convenient for you or watch it live, if it's offered. And we believe it should be offered.

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