Supervisors Delay Plan to Televise Meetings--Again

After a year of wrangling over whether to televise their meetings, Orange County supervisors again postponed a vote on the issue Tuesday after raising questions about the proposed contract and operational and start-up costs.

The inaction rankled some speakers, who accused the board of using delaying tactics and minimizing its responsibility to provide the public with greater access to government meetings.

“It’s incomprehensible to me,” said Jean Askham, president of the Orange County League of Women Voters. “We cannot understand what you are waiting for.”

Chairman Charles V. Smith said he favors televised meetings but is hesitant to approve a contract that would obligate the county financially for the next four years, even if the program were dropped.

“I like the idea,” Smith said, “but we need to find a way to get out of this contract and whether the company would be willing to do it for only one year.”

Under the proposal, Network Television Time, which videotapes Los Angeles County supervisors sessions, would tape Orange County board meetings for one year for $196,000, plus a $40,000 start-up cost. The contract would be renewable for four more years at $181,000 annually.

Supervisor Jim Silva, who with Supervisor Cynthia Coad has opposed televised meetings, said the cost “was very expensive.” Also, he said, public interest in televised meetings is limited.

“Only one or two people in my district have contacted me about it and maybe three or four others in South County,” Silva said.

Supervisors Todd Spitzer and Tom Wilson, who have supported televised meetings, were visibly upset.

“County staff has worked hundreds and hundreds of hours on this,” an exasperated Spitzer said.

He tried to motivate his colleagues to approve the TV deal by changing the contract’s language to rent rather than lease-purchase the video equipment. In addition, he tried to limit the proposal to a one-year contract with the videotaping company.

But Spitzer’s alternative drew an immediate rebuff from County Counsel Laurence Watson, who said that changing the plan now would require the county to start the bidding process over again, which could take six more months.

Supervisors will reconsider the issue March 21.