Nothing to see: Westmoreland commissioners debate streaming of public meetings

Despite public pleas, Westmore­land commissioners have yet to reach consensus on a plan to make video viewing an option for those who want to watch how county business is conducted.

Commissioner Ted Kopas this month endorsed a plan to livestream public meetings that are conducted once or twice monthly at the courthouse in Greensburg.

“I’m 100% for it. Nearly every municipality and school board does it now. My colleagues can like it or not, but in my lifetime there is now more interest in government,” Kopas said. “We have the equipment to do it, and the cost is in the hundreds of dollars. It’s just a matter of setting it up.”

Commissioner Doug Chew said public comment periods at the start of commissioners’ meetings have in recent months been dominated by residents commenting on partisan issues not germane to county government. But he still favors making commissioners’ business accessible — with limits.

“For the sake of transparency, I would support paying for the streaming and retention of the business meeting and comments related to the business of the day,” Chew wrote in an email. “I’m open to hearing comments from constituents about Washington, D.C., but I’m not willing to use taxpayer funds to pay for someone to have a political platform.”

The county limits speakers to three minutes at the start of public meetings to discuss any topic. This summer, the county installed a digital clock to count down a speaker’s time in response to a trend that saw longer speeches dominate the public comment period.

Board Chairman Sean Kertes told speakers they risked potentially being removed by law enforcement if they ignored calls to adhere to the time limit.

Kertes said he is opposed to the livestreaming of commissioner meetings.

“In this political environment people want to use the time for political theater, and they’re doing it at our meeting — that’s my problem. We’re in a world where everyone wants their 15 minutes. I want to hear from the public, but I worry that streaming will lead to more political theater,” Kertes said.

Allegheny County council’s meetings as well as commissioners’ public meetings in Washington County are streamed on the internet. Armstrong and Fayette county commissioner meetings are not available online.

Westmoreland commissioners have over the past several months been lobbied to livestream public sessions by a group of residents who attend and manually record meetings using personal cellphones.

Abby Graham Pardus, founder of a progressive movement “WTF Can I Do Westmoreland,” has over the past several months been a regular speaker at meetings and is among those seeking livestreaming.

“The commissioners should be brave enough, and respect us enough, to stand in front of their constituents and fellow citizens to make their work available to us,” Pardus said. “It is absurdly out of touch to think that anyone would seek out their three minutes of fame during a Westmoreland County commissioners’ meeting. This isn’t Los Angeles. You can get more online attention by livestreaming at a Pittsburgh Pirates game.”