County Supervisors to Go Live on the Internet

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors meetings are going global.

Starting next week, anyone with an Internet connection can watch the five politicians hash out county policy, set sewer rates and, occasionally, trade insults.

Ventura County joins only a handful of local governments in California that have put live sessions on the Internet, said Matt Carroll, the county’s chief information officer.

“This can be a convenient way for the public to view the government process,” he said. “It’s a living record of board meetings.”

The county may be particularly well-suited for the technology because it ranks No. 1 in the state for homes with high-speed Internet connections, Carroll said.

The board’s weekly Tuesday meeting, which begins at 8:30 a.m., will be relayed live with sound and pictures.

“Maybe we should call it ‘Tuesday Morning Live!’” Chief Deputy Executive Officer Bert Bigler said, joking.

A copy of each meeting will be available on the county’s Web page for three months. That way, someone who wants information on a particular issue can download previous meetings to see what happened, Carroll said.

Meetings will also be available to the public on compact disc.

To find the link to live board meetings, go to the Web page, at www.countyofventura.org.

Supervisors are not meeting this week because of the Memorial Day holiday. So the public’s first chance to check out a live meeting will be June 4.

Meetings from the past six weeks, however, should be available for viewing.

The Web meeting coverage came about because Supervisor Frank Schillo asked last fall that county officials find a way for the public to view budget deliberations.

Videotape was considered but discarded because production costs were considered too high.

Internet relays have only minimal costs, Carroll said.

This year’s budget sessions begin June 17, not that anyone is expecting a stampede of Internet surfers visiting the Ventura County page to find out which department budget is being cut and which is being spared.

“Unless there’s a hot issue, it will probably just be the government die-hards,” said Supervisor John Flynn. “But maybe people will try it.”

Flynn said he is prepared for his digital debut.

“I bought some makeup--it’s called Politician’s Delight,” he said, joking. “And I’m considering a hairpiece. But it may be too late for that.”