With a few mouse clicks, citizens can watch City Council meetings and public service videos on topics such as pets, youth and bike safety. The move is a growing trend in East Bay cities to use technology to enhance government participation and cut down on costs.
"This is another one of the informational resources that's great for people interested in City Council decisions or proceedings," said City Councilmember Linda Maio.
The city's Web site now includes an archive of videos and documents of all City Council meetings beginning in 2002. When viewing City Council meetings, corresponding documents pop up on the side of the screen.
City officials plan to expand the video base with other topics like staff training.
The system took 14 months to build and cost the city $15,000.
Granicus Inc., a San Francisco-based webcast company, will operate the system for an additional $14,500 a year, company and city officials said.
The company operates other webcast systems in cities such as Pinole, Brentwood and Sacramento.
The new system will save the city money in the long-run and avoid the "bottleneck" of information requests, said Donna LaSala, city E-Government Manager.
In the past, a lot of staff time was spent fulfilling information requests, said City Clerk Sherry Kelly.
Citizen participation was also limited. City Council videos were only available for two days at a time, she said.
"The idea of self-service and 24-hour access is really appealing to people," Kelly said.
More city Internet services are on their way. Kelly has plans to add online resources this year.
There will be detailed guidelines on the site by May about how to get public records.
A list of elected city officials' business investments and property ownership, known as the "economic interest statement," will go online the same month, Kelly said.
All documents and a history of many city issues such as parking or housing will be available on the city's Web site this summer, she said.
"Technology helps us do our jobs better," Kelly said. "As you can see, we've got our hands full for a couple of years."
Although the video streaming program increases participation, it stills needs work, Maio said.
"The quality (of the video) is not anywhere as good as watching it on TV, Maio said. "It is not as clear or as fluid."
To view the videos visit www.cityofberkeley.info/video.
Quelle: The Daily Californian
