Lake County To Begin Posting Video Of Board Committee Meetings

WAUKEGAN, IL — The Lake County Board announced it will begin filming meetings of its standing committees starting with next week's meetings. Video recordings of the meetings will be posted online and available and broadcast on LCTV, the county's public access television channel.

Citing increased transparency and access to local government, the board's finance committee approved filming all 10 standing committees at its Feb. 7 meeting, board members announced.

“We are excited to be able to enhance transparency by showing the work being done in committee meetings at no additional cost to taxpayers," said Paul Frank, the Highland Park Democrat who chairs the county's financial and administrative committee. "Lake County Board meetings are already being broadcast, so the equipment and staff resources are currently in place. That means we can film committee meetings within our current structure."

Committee meetings will not be broadcast live, according to the county, but recordings will be posted within 48 hours of meetings at the Lake County Television website. The county said meeting videos will be indexed online to allow viewers to jump discussions of to specific agenda items. Videos will also be replayed frequently on LCTV.

"I'm proud of what our board continues to accomplish around transparency," said Board Chair Sandy Hart, a Lake Bluff Democrat. "We want residents to hear the concerns and deliberations of programs and services that takes place at these meetings. Often times, people that want to attend meetings can't because of their busy schedules. Filming all standing committee meetings will make this information accessible to all Lake County residents."