Riley County residents who want to see county commission meetings streamed may have to wait until after the current pandemic has ended.
During Monday’s commission meeting, public comment was brought up by Riley County Resident Noah Rude who was asking when the meetings will be streamed. Commissioner Ron Wells says they will be presented more details after the pandemic on costs and how to implement a streaming system.
For the past few meetings, the Manhattan Alliance for Peace and Justice has been sending a representative to live stream the meetings on their Facebook page. The first meeting they streamed garnered over 800 views. Their second stream dropped to around 270 views. Wells is using these numbers to justify whether or not they need meetings streamed.
“Right now we have a total people of less than 1% of the population of the county. So should we spend the money for 1%”? says Wells.
Wells adds that they may also not have the money for setting up streaming in the budget due to the pandemic. He suggests putting this choice on the upcoming election ballot for the county to choose. However, County Clerk Rich Vargo strongly suggested against it. Putting this subject on the ballot would make it an advisory election.
“Advisory elections are non-binding. People could vote yes to live streamed meetings, but the commission could still say no,” says Vargo.
Wells is still in favor of having live streamed meetings, but wants the county residents to decide. He also thanked those MAPJ members who live streamed last week.
Commissioner John Ford says the commission has been looking into the idea of streamed meetings before the pandemic and are currently looking at several proposals. Ford is in favor of streaming the meetings, but wants to take into consideration the costs versus how many people are consistently watching it.
“I know that technology has gotten a lot cheaper and more efficient. I know the dynamic of younger generations that prefers to have that model. I don’t have a problem with it, but it’s still a part of a larger discussion,” says Ford.
Rude suggests the commission share the MAPJ’s stream to the county Facebook page, but Ford says there are some legal complications with using someone else’s model.
