The mayor of Essex is pushing for more committee meetings to be livestreamed to the public.
During Wednesday's Essex County Council meeting, Sherry Bondy presented a notice of motion looking for increased transparency and awareness at committee and board meetings, such as the Essex County Library, and the Essex Windsor Solid Waste Authority.
Bondy says times and locations for these meetings aren't always accessible to the public who may have to work, have child care challenges, or transportation challenges, and these committees aren't livestreamed.
As part of the motion, Bondy is looking for county administration to request that these boards and committees consider recording and posting their meetings online so the public can become more engaged.
Bondy says this would allow for more transparency.
"So if residents and other councillors are really engaged and care about issues like the local library, or our landfill, let's make it so that residents can follow along with what happens."
She says times have changed when it comes to public engagement.
"Residents want access to more information now, so I want to evolve, and evolving means transparency. People can't get to council meetings, not everybody lives right here in Essex, so if we want people to be informed let's give them the tools to be informed and they can watch a meeting at their own convenience."
She says this is a great tool for accountability.
"This way you can see exactly what was said by your elected officials, that is accountability at its finest. That is something that shows the residents who said what, and then we start to take away the misinformation, and then they can also hear staff explain the questions. We are asking questions, but the way the minutes come out doesn't always show all the questions and all the backstory."
Bondy recently advocated for the Town of Essex's Committee of Adjustment meeting to be livestreamed, which is now available to the public to watch.
This motion will be debated at the next County Council meeting on February 18.