PORT ANGELES — Peninsula Area Public Access’ $24,000 proposal to televise Clallam County commissioner meetings may steer the commissioners to a cheaper private-industry route of streaming proceedings over the Internet.
Dale Wilson, vice president of the PAPA board of directors and publisher of the free monthly newspaper Port O Call, presented PAPA’s proposal to the commissioners Feb. 1.
But after learning Monday that a private company could live-stream for less than half that amount, commissioners agreed to issue requests for proposals for broadcasting meetings via the Internet and for the kind of live videotaping that would be provided by PAPA.
PAPA, which is funded by donations and Wave Broadband through Channel 21, “did start this conversation,” commission chairman Mike Chapman acknowledged Thursday.
The direction commissioners seem headed did not please Wilson.
“I am deeply disappointed that the county commissioners are seemingly doing all they can to not support public access television,” he said Thursday, adding they were not following the lead of county commissioners in other jurisdictions.
A public hearing will be held on funding broadcasts of meetings, which Chapman wants to make available to the public by mid-April.
Video streaming
On Monday, Chapman and Commissioners Mark Ozias and Bill Peach gave rave reviews to a proposal by Denver-based video-streaming provider Granicus Inc.
It was outlined by Deborah Earley and Allen Coleman of the county’s information technology department.
It would cost the county about $10,500 the first year.
“I think it’s exactly the way we should go,” Chapman said.
“The service is affordable and provides exactly the service we want to provide to the people.”
Chapman said he especially liked the ability of users to access specific meeting content rather than wade through meetings on a hit-or-miss basis.
The service could include videotaping of all meetings in the commissioners’ meeting room at the county courthouse.
Meetings would be available on-demand and live.
“Access to a video feed is the best way the county can be open and transparent,” Chapman said.
Chapman said he has been thinking about having the county videotape meetings for more than a year, ever since Clallam Public Eye started recording meetings and posting them on YouTube.
Clallam Public Eye could access the county’s link and continue posting on YouTube.
PAPA
Wilson said Thursday that PAPA, which has yet to broadcast any programs, receives $200 a month in adjusted cable fees.
He said he learned this week that he will receive a one-time allocation of $60,000 from Wave — $30,000 in March and $30,000 in 2017.
Volunteer board members have done most of the fundraising and covered printing, brochure and travel costs on their own, Wilson said.
Live streaming of commissioners’ meetings would eliminate an important segment of the population, he said.
“Whatever they intend to put toward some Internet system is not going to do anything to allow shut-ins and the elderly who don’t use computers to get information they want and need and deserve from their county,” he said.
Wilson equated the move with “censorship.”
“The taxpayers are the ones paying the freight,” he said.
Chapman took issue with Wilson’s characterization.
“Anytime you provide a service that opens up your meetings, it’s not censorship,” he said.
“If it’s on TV, you have to be sitting in front of a TV.
“If it’s available on the Web, you can be anywhere in the world watching.
“Cable is available only inside Clallam County.
“Internet is available anywhere in the world with an Internet connection, so how is that censorship?”
As recently as Feb. 1, county officials were under the impression that the county “would not be able to handle any ‘live streaming’ at this time, and likely not for several years,” according to a memo from county Administrator Jim Jones.
County commissioners did not fund the $60,000 request for 2016 to provide live streaming, Jones said.
Earley, director of the information technology department, said the greater cost included acquisition of more bandwidth, which would not be needed under Granicus’ proposal.
Commissioners were enthusiastic about live streaming.
“I would love to see us move to a system like this,” Ozias said, adding that what Granicus proposes “makes meetings and the work of government as accessible as possible.”
Quipped Peach: “Whatever occurs is exactly what the public sees, even if it is too long and is boring.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
