Edmonds City Council to consider whether to broadcast its meetings live
The Edmonds City Council on Tuesday night is scheduled to decide whether to begin broadcasting council meetings live.
Council meetings are currently recorded on a hard drive, transferred to a DVD and then broadcast the day after the meeting. According to the posted meeting agenda, the current Council Chambers system has the ability to broadcast meetings in real time but is undergoing testing to eliminate any unexpected problems.
If the council approves the idea, live broadcasting would begin when staff is confident the system is working properly. In addition to the live broadcasts, meetings would be rebroadcast daily at noon and 7 p.m. on Channels 21 and 39.
Also on the meeting agenda:
- A presentation by Planning Board members Valerie Stewart and Ian Duncan on sustainable design, to highlight the economic, environmental and social benefits of green building.
- An update on Snohomish County buildable lands and population/employment projects, to provide background for the city’s next mandatory comprehensive plan update, due in 2015.
- Annual reports from the municipal court judge and the Edmonds Citizens’ Tree Board.
At the end of the meeting, the council will convene in executive session to discuss a real estate matter, with potential action following.
You can see the complete agenda here. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the Council Chamber, Public Safety Complex, 250 5th Ave. N.
I think it’s working well as it is now. If citizens could tune in and watch a live broadcast, there would be less of an incentive to attend the meetings, speak during the public comments part of the meeting, and feel engaged in the democratic process. I do value having the meetings broadcast via our local public access channel.
Attention: All Snohomish PUD ratepayers!
Tonight at 7:00 p.m. at the Mountlake Terrace Library there will be a program about why a PUD low-power dam proposed for Sunset Falls is a very bad idea. We will hear from several experts on alternatives to low-power dams on our streams — alternatives that are economically and environmentally more promising. Please join us and learn about what’s happening in our local utility. A growing number of organizations and private citizens are opposed to the Sunset Falls Low-Power Dam. Come and learn why.
(March 5, 2013)