Resident Asks Crawford County Commission To Stream Meetings

Crawford County commissioners were asked by a resident April 18 if they would be interested in streaming their meetings online.

Sue Greenstreet said that since commissioners have denied several requests to hold evening meetings, asked if they would entertain the idea of either streaming meetings to YouTube or Facebook, making them more accessible for those unable to attend.

Commission meetings are held every Tuesday at 9 a.m. at the county courthouse.

Presiding Commissioner Steve Black said that he was open to the idea, as was District 1 Commissioner Rob Cummings.

District 2 Commissioner Jared Boast said that as long as it was approved by Prosecuting Attorney David Smith, he was open to it, but does not want the meetings to become a platform for those who want to make a show.

Referencing various conflicts that have arisen at commission meetings over the last 18 months between the commission, public attendees and even some county officials, Boast said that he is not interested in turning the meetings into a show.

However, he said maybe the public would be interested in seeing “some of the disrespectful comments that have been made to the commission” over the last several months.

“Maybe those people would act differently if they knew they were on video,” he said.

Commissioners talked about the equipment that might be necessary to stream it, but Sheriff Darin Layman said it could be done with a simple mobile phone.

The commission could stream the meetings to their Facebook page where they would be archived.

Commissioners did not discuss holding evening meetings.

Former Presiding Commissioner Leo Sanders rebuffed requests over his 12 years in office to hold some evening meetings.

When Sanders took office, the commission held a few quarterly evening meetings, which were poorly attended.

Sanders and the commission at that time abandoned the idea.