1/7/2014
NCCo. councilman proposes televised meetings - WDEL

By Tom Lehman
WDEL.com

A New Castle County councilman has proposed legislation supporting the broadcast of council meetings on television and over the Internet.

WDEL's Tom Lehman has more...

Councilman Bob Weiner (R-Chatham) filed two resolutions last month in support of the measure.

The first resolution requests that County Executive Tom Gordon implement live and delayed TV broadcasts of all publicly advertised council meetings.

If approved, the second motion would amend council's rules to require that its sessions be televised on the county's television channel.

Under Weiner's proposal, all meetings and public hearings held by council would be broadcast live and later repeated on television. Meetings would also be streamed online and could be viewed on-demand.

"With the passage of these two rule changes there would be a total commitment of the executive and legislative branches to broadcast," Weiner said. "The only detail that would remain would be which camera crew, how many cameras...more implementation aspects."

Weiner's plan comes after the county announced last month that Board of Adjustment meetings would be broadcast on NCCTV in 2014.

The broadcast of council meetings, he said, is intended to increase transparency and accessibility for county residents.

"The public has the right to hold their elected officials to the highest level of ethical behavior," he said.

Both pieces of legislation are expected to be discussed during an executive session of council next Tuesday and then voted on during the actual meeting that night.

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