When Diane Neiper told fellow Northampton County Council members that her resignation is imminent, she threatened to come back and attend meetings from time to time. "If our livestream didn't cost so much, you might be able to watch us," answered Council Prez Ann McHale.Cost so much? What the hell is she smoking?
Livestreaming county council meetings was supposed to be part of the $650,000 in renovations to the star chamber. Members did get fancy little laptops for a paltry $10,294.57, but no web cams.
I spoke yesterday to Al Jordan, Northampton County's Director of Information Services. He's had a proposal since January '07. Since that time, Lehigh County has decided to webcast its meetings. In November, Council member Mike Dowd asked McHale what she had done, and she claimed they needed someone to operate the camera. That was news to Al Jordan, who told me no one from council had spoken to him.
I spoke with Al again yesterday. He told me webcasting could be done as cheaply as $500. But McHale is opting for a $17,000 production that saves meetings and even has a nice little index. The county has apparently applied for a grant to fund this project.
Here's an idea. Why not break down and spend $500 for a fricking webcam and livestream those meetings while you're waiting for that grant to be rejected? As Al told me yesterday, it's "inevitable." So why not bite the bullet?
If iCarly can do it, so can Ann McHale.
McHale's an idiot and full of it. But she's not as dumb as she looks. She knows that if they start webcamming and people actually see her in action, that's the end of her. She'll do all she can to keep people from seeing what goes on.
ReplyDeleteWasn't this last election the end of her? She will continue to win in Bethlehem since that is an inbred town that only supports those who can trace their ancestors for four generations. Just kidding but damn close.
ReplyDeleteShe didn't win in Bethlehem. She lost her own District dumb %$#.
ReplyDeleteWe're too busy overpaying for swamps in Mt. Bethel. No money for open government.
ReplyDeleteIf they call the video idea "open space," every one of those lunkhead council thieves would probably vote for it.
Duh! Flip cam > YouTube.
ReplyDelete$200- TOPS!
Bernie, Emmaus has been webcasting their meetings for years now. They don't do it live. They post the webcast on their site the next morning after a council meeting. A fixed camera is mounted on the wall behind the audience that covers the whole room.
ReplyDeleteThere is no reason for live streaming of meetings as long as they are posted quickly. That drives up costs with no tangible benefit. I'm not sure you can do live streaming with that $500 budget.
If Norco does what Emmaus is doing, the all in cost for the equipment, set up, etc. is less than $500 and it can be up/running in a couple of weeks.
The Banker
If iCarly can do it, so can Ann McHale.
ReplyDeleteThat leaves the question... will Northampton County Citizens be tuning into iMcHale or iCarly?
Anyone? Anyone?
Lower Macungie Towhnship webcasts. Maybe they can loan Norco the money.
ReplyDeleteMr. O'Hare,
ReplyDeleteAllentown council approved a resolution that will begin the process of researching options for broadcasting our meetings. We would like to open up the chamber to other public and non-profit enties that could use our "Government Access Channel" that is available through the cable companies.
We will approach webcasting first, but are looking at other options, too.
We have some enthusiastic volunteeres who are helping us research costs and options. They felt having a resolution would help in showing support to the community.
Best regards,
Michael Donovan
Michael,
ReplyDeleteGreat news for Allentown! Even better news for transparency. I am very pleased to hear this, and should have stopped by.
Bernie,
ReplyDeleteAs matter of clarification I feel compelled to render a more accurate depiction of our conversation. Yes one could stream for $500. I also stated that it would be an unacceptable solution. County Council and the Administration, under my advisement are looking at various options. The bottom line as I stated is streaming at a minimum is inevitable. That is because all of the elected officials involved support it and know it is something that should be an available constituent service.
Perhaps what you don't realize is through the County Internet connection, we currently have; video conferencing solutions for Courts, access to the JNET connection for the 37 Police Departments, other Commonwealth applications, Remote Access and email for employees, handheld device email, vendor connections, websites and other bandwidth consuming activities.
As we discussed finding a solution that meets the needs of, and integrates with the myriad of other Internet based communications is my concern.
Lastly I specifically told you a $500 webcam WOULD NOT work. Just because it is possible to stream for $500 doesn’t mean it is feasible in this environment.
When an adequate solution is identified approved and funded, it will be implemented.
Again the $17,000 solution is one option among others I recommended that could be pursued if a grant can be obtained for funding.
Al,
ReplyDeleteMy recollection is that you told me that $500 livestream would work. In fact, you say that again at the beginning of your comment. You did tell me the downside is that there would be no record of the livestream and the quality would be poor. But it certainly would work. As far as bandwidth is concerned, I don't think a 6:30 PM meeting would eat into that bc it is at a time of day when those other activities are suspended for the day.
So while you pursue that $17,000 grant, why not install a little webcam and see what happens? My bet is it is no problem. I think it's time to do something and I know you have been working to that end for years.
You did specifically tell me you were moving in the direction of that $17,000 solution. You told me a higher cost solution was rejected by you and you got that third party down to $17k. My impression is that you have identified the solution. Am I inaccurate?
Many other municipalities have low tech solutions already, including Emmaus. I think we can come up w/ something until that more expensive solution arrives. If it doesn't work, we can stop.