Streamed meetings may be a pandemic carryover

While Ozaukee County supervisors will likely have to attend meetings in person moving forward, the public may still be able to watch the meetings via livestream. 

The county amended a rule of the Policy and Procedure Manual at the beginning of the pandemic to allow board members to vote on agenda items and participate in meetings virtually. 

The rule generally requires board members to be physically present for such matters but the amendment was made to allow meetings to proceed when it was unsafe to gather during the coronavirus pandemic. 

The Executive Committee considered extending the rule amendment, which is slated to expire on July 7, during its June 28 meeting. 

Committee member Paul Melotik said meetings are better served with people being physically present rather than attending virtually. He said in addition to forming camaraderie within committees and boards, having members in person allows for better discussion and flow of interaction.

“The guidance from our health department, state and local, makes it clear that it’s safe to come to a meeting,” he said. “For that reason we should stick to the July 7 date.” 

Chairman Lee Schlenvogt agreed and said the way voting is conducted where there are virtual participants can be problematic. Instead of voting in unison when all are present, a role call is taken for votes, leaving time for board members to change their vote depending on how others vote, which can impact the vote.

The committee unanimously voted to recommend that the board of supervisors allow the rule to expire on July 7.

Also during the June 28 meeting, the committee discussed continuing the practice of livestreaming county meetings for members of the public, though no action was taken. 

Committee members voiced support of the livestreams, noting that they boost transparency of county affairs and allow members of the public who may not be able to attend in person to still watch the proceedings. 

To date, 109 meetings have been streamed and these meetings have been viewed 2,192 times or for 711.43 hours.

Streaming statistics gathered by the county indicated the vast majority of streams received at least some views. The meeting with the most views was watched 251 times, while the meeting with the lowest was viewed once. 

On average, each meeting received about 22 views. 

Committee member Kathlyn Geracie said the livestreams address issues the county has experienced where interested parties are unable to attend county meetings and allows them to listen to the proceedings in their own time.

“I think it addresses some issues people have had all along,” she said.

Administrator Jason Dzwinel said while the meetings are not widely viewed, there is no ongoing expense associated with streaming them, nor are they difficult to stream.

“We’re equipped to do it, people are watching the videos and I think it aligns with some of our strategic issues by making county government more accessible to the public,” he said.