County Council, Board of Education to Live Stream Meetings

For years the only Harford County residents who have experienced County Councilman have been those who attend the council's Tuesday meetings.

Beginning next week, though, anyone will be able to see and hear Guthrie's wit live online.

The County Council is scheduled to begin streaming its meetings April 5 on the county website.

When the meetings are over, archived footage will be available and viewers will be able to skip to different parts of the interactive agenda.

“The County Council felt that by improving accessibility to the legislative process in action we could create more opportunities for our constituents to become involved,” Council President Billy Boniface said in a statement. “We hear far too often that citizens feel disconnected from their government and that decisions are made without any public input. While all of the Council’s meetings are open to the public, we realize for many it is difficult to attend. Now they’ll be able to watch from home on their computers either live or at a more convenient time.”

The Board of Education is planning to begin online streaming its meetings, too. The council and board both hold their legislative sessions in the .

The council is partnering with the , funded by Harford County government, to provide the video. HCN will continue to broadcast the taped meetings on local cable.

“We are grateful to the County Council and County Executive for the partnership with this communication project in allowing us to utilize the new live-streaming technology,” Board of Education President Mark M. Wolkow said in a statement. “The ability to live stream our Board meetings will assist us in reaching our goal of providing timely, accurate information to all of our families regarding important Board decisions without them having to adjust their busy schedules or even leave their homes.”

The superintendent was encouraged by the technology, too.

“The real-time nature of the live streaming capabilities will allow us to engage our parents with the utmost transparency,” Superintendent of Schools Robert M. Tomback said in a statement. “The Board meetings will continue to air on Harford Cable Network, while this technology will allow us an additional vehicle to communicate the key decision-making process that affects all students, staff, and the community-at-large.”

The council has partnered with Granicus to offer the service.

“I am happy to partner with Council President Boniface and the County Council to provide the public with this technology, as it will offer greater transparency and accessibility to government proceedings.  This initiative shows how different entities of government can successfully work together and share resources in ways that are beneficial to our citizens, which is something that we are making an effort to do more and more,” County Executive David Craig said in a statement