Queen Creek begins broadcasting council meetings

Queen Creek's Town Council chambers were more like a television studio than a government meeting room as the town began broadcasting council meetings for the first time this week.

While proponents applaud the move for increasing transparency in government, others wonder if the money could have been used for something else during lean economic times.

Studio lights, large television cameras and a handful of camera and audio equipment operators were on hand to make sure things ran smoothly Wednesday, and despite some small issues with audio, they did. The meetings are now available for streaming from the town's Web site and can be viewed on Cox Channel 11.

Broadcasting the council meetings has been in the works for more than 10 years, Town Manager John Kross said. But to get there the town had to get a lot of things in place, including rewiring the council chambers to accommodate large electronic equipment and lights.

Queen Creek contracted with OrangeScreen Productions for an amount not to exceed $100,000, and with Granicus, a Web provider and host, for about $9,000.

The contract includes all the equipment such as microphones and lights but not cameras, which the town plans to purchase during the 2008-09 fiscal year for about $15,000, said town spokeswoman Marnie Schubert.

Town employees will take over the recording duties after 24 meetings.

Schubert said the feedback from town officials on the first recorded meeting has been positive.

But Queen Creek resident Thom Schuett said the money could be better spent during difficult economic times and doesn't think enough people will use the new feature to justify spending the money.

"I think the purpose in going (to the meeting) is to get on the agenda for my three-minute rant," Schuett said. "If I don't have any input, do I really want to sit at home and get frustrated?"

Schuett said local government is ignoring small expenditures that begin to add up.

"Multiple $10,000 expenditures really add up to something," he said. "Keep adding those up and pretty soon you have a number that's meaningful."

There are concerns about any expenditure, Kross said.

"But the council's priorities have been made clear: Get citizens involved with their local government," he said. "This is a proven strategy in municipal government and we are delivering on that goal. People will always question every single expenditure made by their government and they should - that is the beauty of our form of government."

Kross said decisions could have been made to eliminate a myriad of programs but town officials placed greater priority on public participation.

"I believe in this day and age, people lead extremely very busy lives and need other opportunities to engage with their government on their own schedule without having to be physically present at the town hall twice a month," he said.

The town's manager for the project, Michael Woods, was pleased with the first effort in broadcasting Town Council meetings. And there are additional features planned for the next meeting. The Web site will offer the ability to search and watch only portions of the meeting people are interested in and the town will soon begin podcasting meetings, too.

"We're still small but I think we're on par technologically with the larger cities," Woods said. "We want to stay ahead of the curve."

Woods hopes the broadcasting will get residents more engaged in the town.

"There have been concerns lately with low voter turnout or that people care less," he said. "This is to get people involved."

Schubert said it's important for residents to see what goes into decision-making.

"There's more to the meetings than just 'yay' and 'nay,'" Schubert said. "People don't realize how much goes into the decisions that affect their daily lives."

Watch the Queen Creek Town Council meeting

www.queencreek.org

Cox Channel 11 in Queen Creek