• Release ID: 13-044
• Release Date: 2/15/2013
• Contact: Neil Greenberger 240-777-7939 or Delphine Harriston240-777-7931
• From: Council Office

All committee meetings of the Montgomery County Council are now being either broadcast live on County Cable Montgomery or recorded for later broadcast on the County’s cable station. At times when two committees are meeting simultaneously, viewers have the option of seeing one meeting live on television and the other on the Internet via streaming.

The move to broadcast all committee meetings—which total approximately 190 in an average year—are part of the County’s Open Government Initiative to make more aspects of government operations accessible to the public.

The County has long had the policy of televising live all Council sessions and public hearings on County Cable Montgomery (CCM—Cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon). Special events such as town hall meetings hosted by the Council or the County Executive are either broadcast live or recorded for later broadcast. All meetings, whether live or recorded for viewing On Demand, can be seen via the County web site at:
http://www6.montgomerycountymd.gov/csltmpl.asp?url=/content/council/ondemand/index.asp

“I was very pleased the GO Committee took on this initiative to bring government closer to residents,” said Council President Nancy Navarro, who also chairs the Council’s Government Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee. “Many people want to follow the operations of our government and see how decisions are being made, but their schedules do not always allow them to attend meetings. This investment in digital infrastructure will allow residents, advocacy organizations and members of the media to view any Council committee meeting on demand, making the Council’s process more open and accessible to everyone.”

Meetings, whether they were broadcast live or were recorded, are available On Demand within 24 hours of the conclusion of the meeting. Broadcast times of meetings that are recorded (because they were held simultaneously with a meeting that was broadcast live) can be found on the schedule listed on the CCM web site at http://montgomerycountymd.gov/ccm/ .

All meetings are presented with the closed captioning option.

”When I started at the Council, I was surprised to learn that many Council committee sessions were not recorded on video—committees are where a lot of the important decisions are made,” said Councilmember Riemer, who is the Council’s lead member for digital government. “Last year, I proposed, with support from Government Operations Chair Navarro, that the Council record all committee sessions on video and publish the video on our web site as well as broadcast it on our cable channel. I’m glad to see this initiative come to fruition because I think it will promote accountability for the Council and engagement for our residents.”



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