Cape County commissioner wants meetings to be broadcast

Jay Purcell wants live Internet broadcasts of Cape Girardeau County Commission meetings.

Purcell, planning a campaign to retain the county seat he's held for three years, blindsided fellow commissioners Thursday morning with a suggestion to install an Internet camera, called a webcam, in their meeting room.

"My God, give me a minute to digest it," said Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones, in a phone interview Thursday afternoon. "This was brought up with no preparing, just out of the blue."

Purcell wants commission meetings aired live, recorded and archived. He said webcasting is one way to reach the county's more than 70,000 residents. He envisions each commissioner with a laptop computer, able to incorporate messages from the audience into the discussions. Road and bridge advisory commission meetings could also be broadcast.

"It will help the county move to the next level of credibility," Purcell said.

The plan could be implemented as part of a Web site upgrade. Purcell asked the county's information technology director, Eric McGowan, to gather estimates for the costs for a formal presentation to the board in February. Purcell suggested the initial investment would be around $15,000, with monthly fees for the archives.

Commissioner Larry Bock wanted specifics on costs and wondered if the camera could be turned off. But he said broadcasting meetings would not likely change the commission's ability to do business.

"You couldn't talk as freely. There's certain comments about things that are not just decided that shouldn't be talked about in public," he said during a Thursday phone interview.

"That's exactly why we need a webcam," Purcell said, suggesting that webcasting would a "drastic difference in what occurs" and "provide citizens with true, real-life reporting. There's no disputing what the camera and audio would say. Everything we do in those sessions are public ... If someone says they would have to change their behavior because of a camera, they might want to rethink what they're doing."

Jones is unconvinced of the value.

"Here's a real problem. A lot of people say, 'If you want more information, just plug into our Web site.' A hell of a lot of people don't have a computer or know how to use it. Most older folks don't, starting with my mother and continuing with me," he said. "My wife's got a computer, and she does all that stuff."

The Missouri Legislature webcasts the audio of its sessions; Cape Girardeau City Council meetings air live on Channel 5 and are rebroadcast each week. Jones called those "a whole lot different."

"All of our business is in-house. Rarely does anyone come into our meetings outside of an office holder or a department head," Jones said.

Commissioners often speak quite freely during meetings, on topics that other government bodies reserve for closed sessions.

Missouri's Sunshine law allows for, but does not require, closed sessions to discuss sensitive topics such as litigation, personnel and real estate transactions.

"I went for 12 years without a closed meeting. I don't believe in closed meetings," Jones said. He would consider the possibility of webcasts, depending on the cost.

"I'm willing to listen. We've never had anybody to inquire about it," he said. "This is the first time it ever came up."

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127