Politics & Government

Suffolk Legislature Mulls Broadcast Of Meetings

County could join Nassau with webcast footage of legislative sessions

The Suffolk County Legislature is considering installing the infrastructure to allow for its public meeting and hearing to be broadcast via the internet.

Under a proposal by Presiding Officer DuWayne Gregory (D-Amityville), the legislative sessions would be made available through a webcast by the end of this coming summer, according to an article in Newsday.

Currently the body’s public sessions are only available through audio feeds. Lawmakers criticized the audio broadcast because it creates confusion about who is speaking during the proceedings. Legis. John M. Kennedy Jr. (R-Nesconset) said in the article that only “political insiders” are able to follow the audio of meetings.

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“We need to open up and make our proceedings as accessible as we can," Legis. Gregory told Newsday. In addition to the video feed, Gregory said he would like to create night sessions so more residents can attend public meetings.

If approved the legislature will need to shell out about $150,000 to install cameras in both the Riverhead and Hauppauge meeting rooms. The webcast would be made available on the Suffolk County Legislature’s website.

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The Nassau County Legislature already streams its meetings on its website and other Suffolk municipalities are videotaped, such as the Smithtown Zoning Board, the East Hampton Town board, and the Town of Huntington’s various boards. In Patchogue Village, the organization Citizens Campaign for Open Village Government videotapes village board meetings and hosts the video on its YouTube channel.


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