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From Town Hall, It's Council Meetings Live By Webcast

November 20, 2008

CUMBERLAND - With earlier hiccups in the system chased away, Cumberland residents may now access the Internet from home to watch the Town Council meetings live from Town Hall on the first and third Wednesdays of the month.

Better yet, they may go back later and choose to hear just sections of the meeting by clicking on specific agenda items.

See the Planning Director John Aubin describe the new piece of open space he's hoping to purchase with state funds. Or the mayor describe plans for expanding the sewer system. Listen to the council deliberate a peddler's license for a spot on Diamond Hill Road.

It's instant and easy, or, as the computer techies say, seamless and transparent.

And soon, says the town's technology consultant Dan Lemois, meetings of the School Committee, Planning Board and Zoning Board of Review will be accessible, too.

The process, called webcasting, and offered by the Granicus Inc. of San Francisco, is opening up the workings of town and city governments across the nation.

Granicus, founded in 1999, describes its business as providing public meeting management technology.

It currently provides government webcasting for more than 450 government agencies in 43 states.

The process works so efficiently that the governor of New York mandated all state meetings must be available online.

"It's going perfectly," Lemois, told The Breeze this week. He suggests that 90 percent of computers can now access online videotape of the council meetings.

The number of residents taking advantage of the process hasn't been many so far, he said, but he's expecting the deliberations of the seven councilors to gain popularity as residents learn to use the system.

"There's nothing like this video," he suggests. "It puts everyone out there, word for word and how they said it."

While the written minutes may be accurate, he said, the tape reveals the tone of the comments, "If they are condescending or joking, you can see it," says Lemois. "It's a phenomenal tool for voters."

In Cumberland, the options for citizens to follow Town Council business are several.

You might watch the meeting live every other Wednesday.

Or, simply review the agenda and go back later and hear a specific topic. Replays by agenda items are available the following day.

Or use the search engine that's part of the town's ClerkBase software to review past actions on issues of interest, then go to the video of those meetings click on the topic, and listen.

Town Clerk Sandra Giovanelli, who attends each meeting, inserts breaks between each topic as the meeting progresses to allow citizens to later access only the awarding of truck bids or financial reports, for instance.

Consultant Lemois of Pawtucket, who is the brother of Councilor Bruce Lemois, began working on the webcasting project with Giovanelli last spring but needed the summer to perfect it, he said, because it could only be tested on meeting nights when the camera operator was actually recording the meeting.

The school board's involvement in this same process - streaming their meetings live and later making them available to citizens - was mentioned last week by School Committee member Lisa Beaulieu after new member Brian Kelly and citizen Richard Otto both questioned the $700 per meeting currently being spent on a court stenographer.

The stenographer was hired last spring.

With a projected annual bill of more $16,000 for the service, Kelly suggested the money might be put to better use.

According to Deputy Town Clerk Augusta Johnson, the town spent $16,922 to initiate the Granicus service and pays another $1,005 a month for the complete service.

Under the plan Lemois is working out, he said, the school board would split that monthly cost with the town.

The Town Council also pays $180 a meeting for someone to record the meeting, while the schools currently have a student performing that service.

Marcia Green

http://www.valleybreeze.com/Free/MAIN-C-meetings-online

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