Kudos to Macomb County, MI
Some local governments talk about transparency. An honest attempt to open lines of communication with the public.
Then there is Macomb, County, MI who not only talk the talk, but walk the walk.
Even as Macomb County officials write a new constitution, consider a property tax increase and wrestle with a deficit that threatens jobs and services, only a few residents are attending public meetings.
Advocates of open government say the turnouts aren’t a sign of apathy but rather that residents are too busy.
Now, county commissioners are responding with technology that soon will allow residents to listen to every county meeting at home from their Internet-connected computers.
No other county in southeast Michigan offers such a service.
“We’re very excited about it,” county Clerk Carmella Sabaugh said. “Getting these meetings to the public makes governments more accountable.”
Earlier this month, the Clerk’s Office began streaming live Web audio from meetings of the Charter Commission, a group charged with revamping county government.
Can’t listen live? Every meeting has been recorded and archived so you can listen at the click of a mouse. The audio is available at www.macombcountymi.gov/clerksoffice.
County officials soon plan to offer audio of every board and committee meeting on the county’s Web site, www.macombcountymi.gov.
Costs are minimal, officials say, because the technology already is in place.
“We need to inform the public about how their tax dollars are being spent,” said Commissioner Jim Carabelli, R-Shelby Township.
My local public channel has just started to experiment with live streaming on the web. There can’t be too much of this kind of technology used for me.
This entry was posted on Monday, February 23rd, 2009 at 9:05 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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