The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors split 3-3 in a vote on whether to add a video stream of their proceedings as well as School Board meetings to the current podcast archive and audio-only live stream. The City of Charlottesville broadcasts many government meetings on local cable television and the Internet with support from its franchise agreement with Comcast. Albemarle would have to pay for its own video production.
Proponents say video streaming will help the non-attending public better distinguish who is talking during the meetings, which will aid in following the proceedings.
Opponents says the additional service costs too much money (estimates range between $15,000 and $75,000 a year) and creates another layer of technology which can fail.
What are your thoughts? Should Albemarle County invest in video streaming?
