Citing Attorney, Commission Won’t Stream Meetings Online

After a few weeks of discussion, the Crawford County commission announced May 9 that they would not stream their meetings online — at least for now.

Commissioners were asked April 18 if they would take the step of airing them on YouTube or Facebook, which would make them accessible to people who can’t attend.

District 2 Commissioner Jared Boast wanted to run the idea past Prosecuting Attorney David Smith before going forth.

After meeting on May 2 with Smith in closed session, Presiding Commissioner Steve Black told attendees May 9 that they would not be going forth with it.

“(Smith) brought up issues that we had not considered,” Black said. “We will hold off due to what the prosecuting attorney outlined as legal possibilities.”

Black said that while other counties have been streaming their meetings online, including Franklin, he said they are not having the issues Smith pointed to.

“We’re listening to his suggestions,” Black said.

Commissioners were open to the idea of streaming the meetings. 

Boast said putting those meetings online would show “some of the disrespectful comments” made to the commission and that being on video might cause people to act differently.

The commission has been asked to make the meetings more accessible to the public, including hosting some evening meetings.

Each commission meeting is usually held on Tuesdays at 9 a.m.

Commissioners have rejected those requests and cited low attendance at past evening meetings. 

During the April 25 meeting, Black brought the costs of a computer and camera to the commission. It would total around $2,000.

The camera would have pointed at whoever was speaking and could be easily streamed to YouTube, though it would have to be shut off for closed session.

Commissioners did not say when they would revisit the idea.