When Alachua County Commissioners don’t have a Tuesday public meeting, they still meet. They sit in a smaller room around a table where they can talk without all the formalities.
Tuesday, county staff started steaming these meetings live on their website.
There were some complaints from the public that the meeting records were difficult to get. The thought was the video would make getting the information easier, and it has.
However, I’ve noticed a slight change in the atmosphere of the meetings.
During the meeting, County Manager Randall Reid seemed very nervous when the Commissioners brought up the subject of cutting staff.
He mentioned that county staff were watching the recording, and that the Commission should discuss what departments to cut and his office would take care of staffing issues.
I’m sure he would have still clarified that process, but I think the video made him a little extra wary. I could be wrong, though.
For the sake of transparency and citizen involvement, the video streaming is a fantastic thing. But I don’t think it would be beneficial if Commissioners were so aware of the video that they suppressed their thoughts.
The great thing about informal meetings is Commissioners can talk about whatever they want and they can throw around whatever ideas they want. It’s a miniature think-tank in a way.
The public meetings are always very formal. The Commissioners and staff are very aware that their words are being scrutinized, so not everything gets discussed there.
It would be a shame if the informal meetings became that formal, too.
