Jeffersonville News and Tribune
One of the authors of an Indiana bill that would require state and local government entities to livestream their meetings has agreed to delay the legislation for two years, but we encourage lawmakers to move forward with this important transparency tool.
Our governing bodies shouldn’t wait for a law to be passed to livestream meetings and archive them on websites. In Southern Indiana, some have already taken the step including the City of Jeffersonville, the New Albany-Floyd County Schools board and Floyd County government. The City of New Albany started a transparency portal on its website, though meeting footage is posted infrequently there.
(Locally, Columbus City Council, Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp., Bartholomew County Commissioners, Bartholomew County Council and most, but not all, city and county government boards make their live meetings accessible by video in some form.)
In an era where anyone with a cellphone is capable of recording an event, providing residents with a livestream of a meeting isn’t a big ask of our government. While Southern Indiana is blessed to have multiple media outlets covering the area, that’s not always the case in rural Indiana communities. Recording and making publicly available footage from meetings is a big step toward transparency and keeping residents informed.
Residents should be able to witness the actions of elected officials as they consider how to spend taxpayer money. With start times ranging from morning to early evening, not everyone can attend public meetings in person. Utilizing technology allows everyone the opportunity to see for themselves how the sausage gets made.
In the same vein, our state lawmakers should respect and support the requirement of publishing public notices in the newspaper of record. From bids for taxpayer-funded projects to announcements about utility rate increases, public notices are also a key tool for transparency.
Newspapers are a third-party overseer of these notices and allow for wide circulation of the advertisements. Between print editions and websites, newspapers reach more people than would occur if such advertisements were only placed on government websites. In many instances, government websites aren’t updated regularly, and it’s easy to foresee situations where public notices wouldn’t be published in a timely, transparent manner if left only to the public sector.
Most of us would like to see more public involvement in our democracy. One way to encourage more participation is through information. It’s also incumbent upon residents to be active participants and to seek and absorb information. All the tools in the world won’t help if people don’t care about their communities.
When our public is more informed about government processes, people are more likely to make decisions that benefit all of us. Livestreaming meetings and keeping public notices are ways to support that goal.
