vlog Investigates: Dallas and Grundy supervisors take steps to be more accessible
Seven of 19 county boards of supervisors lack recorded meetings for residents to later access, according to a six-month survey by vlog Investigates.
Most local governments turned to streaming or virtual meetings five years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was one good thing that came out of 2020, says Randy Evans, executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council.
"Government bodies acquired the technology for Zoom, for live streaming," Evans says. "They made room on their websites to put agendas and minutes, and video. And we ought to encourage our government officials to take advantage of that technology."
The Iowa FOI Council is a nonprofit focused on educating Iowans on open records and open meetings laws.
Evans sees some room for improvement in citizens being able to understand what local elected leaders are doing — and deciding.
County boards of supervisors, in particular.
"I think school boards and city councils are the ones that are taking advantage of the technology most often," Evans says.
The results of vlog Investigates' survey match that with dozens of cities and school boards online.
"County Board of Supervisors are reluctant adopters," Evans says.
- A few more findings from vlog Investigates:
- All 19 counties comply with Iowa laws on posting agendas and minutes.
- They're all on websites.
But about half don't offer the meetings later.
Grundy County just started putting recordings on YouTube this year.
One fast-growing county is in progress: Dallas County.
"I think there's a lot of great stuff happening in Dallas County, and I want the people that live here to know about it," says Dallas County Supervisor Julia Helm.
In May, she requested an agenda item for the weekly board of supervisors' meeting to discuss making meetings more accessible. The discussion centered on going online, including these comments:
Supervisor Brad Golightly: "My concern is just becoming somebody's entertainment. If they want to know and learn and participate, they should be here."
Helm: "They are not going to take off work to be here. I think we should do it because it's the time we live in and there's an expectation from the public that we are more accessible."
Chapman: "I've always believed in having transparency in everything we do."
The board meets at 9 a.m. Tuesdays in a new administration building. Its meeting room has the potential to stream meetings.
Supervisors Brad Golightly and Kim Chapman said they had not heard requests from the public like Helm had.
Since then, the supervisors had the county explore options. On Aug. 19, the board approved providing meeting materials for agenda items on the website. Supervisors also approved an electrician to outfit the conference room for recording. The cost is $10,000, according to the Aug. 19 meeting minutes.
Work is expected to start next week.
Helm says her motivation came from residents.
"If people knew what was available, I think they would tune in," she says.
Evans says the benefits of streaming meetings or having recordings outweigh concerns.
"I think it gives the government official a better sense of what their constituents are thinking about a particular issue. It makes it easier for the citizen to engage with their government body," Evans says.
That can help with Iowans not feeling able to participate.
"And a far bigger issue than it being inconvenient for government is that we have we have a real problem with people not wanting to engage. They think it's useless, that their opinions don't matter," he says.
"I think this is a way for government officials to reach out to citizens, to let them know that their opinions do count, that they want to hear from them," he says.
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