Local governments around here seem reluctant to post videos of their own meetings, or even to post board packet items on the web. We’ve seen examples of how to do it from Travis County, Texas and Leon County, Florida, but those are other states; maybe our Georgia local governments don’t want to look at such examples. How about Glynn County, Georgia?

Found on Glynn County’s facebook page:

Did you know…Glynn County now offers live streaming and archived videos of BOC meetings ONLINE! No cable? No problem! Join us tonight at 6:00 p.m. Glynn County, GA — Official Website — Media Center

Looks like their 24 April 2012 Work Session lasted more than two hours.

And they live-stream and archive videos of their planning commission, as well. It’s 18 April 2012 meeting lasted about 24 minutes.

Back on the Glynn County web pages, they have their proposed budget online more than a week before their budget public hearing which is a special called meeting that they will put on cable channel 99 and live stream online.

Meanwhile, they have Board of Commissioners minutes online that include details each item such as Ordinance Compliance Check List on an Application Under the Liquor, Malt Beverage and Winde Ordinance.

The Glynn County Commissioners include with their minutes details of rezoning applications, with the purpose of the request, the applicant, the comprehensive plan land use designation, recommendations from the county planning and engineering departments, any fire or police issues, and the detailed recommendation from the planning commission, plus maps, and more.

Such details for each item are also linked in with the Glynn County Commission agendas so citizens can see them before the meeting. For example at their 5 April Regular Meeting they included a link to information about the statewide mutual aid agreement, with a statement of issue, two alternatives for action, a recommended motion, and a copy of the actual agreement. Glynn County citizens didn’t have to fish around on the state’s website to find what might or might not have been the agreement their County Commission was approving: the Glynn County Commission put it right there on their own website so everyone could see it.

Does Lowndes County even have such an alcohol license checklist? How would we know? They never publish whatever they’re looking at when they approve an alcohol license.

We can hope the Lowndes County Commissioners are looking at rezoning details like those that Glynn County publishes, but we don’t know, because Lowndes County doesn’t publish them.

I suppose each of us could file a separate open records request for each board packet item each time the Commission meets. Then we might get them after the meeting.

Doubtless Lowndes County and Valdosta and Hahira and Remerton and Dasher and Lake Park and the Industrial Authority and the Planning Commission and all the other 20+ boards and agencies have nothing to hide. Probably they just don’t know how easy it is to do this stuff. It looks like Glynn County has only been posting videos since last fall. But now they’re doing it. Maybe our local governments might want to take a peek at how they’re doing it.

-jsq

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