 |
|||||
|
Health district to stop videotaping meetings
by Jason Dietrich
The Beach Cities Health District Board of Directors voted to stop funding the taping of board meetings for broadcast on cable television last week.
Board members cited a savings of approximaely $2,000 per year and better meeting dynamics as reasons for the change. It costs about $200 to have the board's monthly meeting taped, duplicated, edited and delivered to the cable station.
Board members Joanne Woodward and Vanessa Poster, both candidates for re-election in November, voted against the bill, which passed 3-2.
Board member Dr. Carol Frey, who declared she won't be running for re-election this November, was the most vocal opponent of the practice. Frey said taping the board meetings is unnecessary, since the meetings only show the end of the decision-making process, rather than the back-and-forth committee discussions that go influence a member's vote. She also argued that taping the meetings is a barrier to free discussion.
"Does the presence of cameras affect the outcome of a meeting? I really believe it does. Since we've had cameras at the meetings I think we've seen some attempts to be politically correct, some posturing and holding back of thoughts," Frey said.
Videocameras became a regular sight at the Health District board meetings about three-and-a-half years ago, when minutes of the meeting began to be supplemented with videotapes.
Board members in favor of continuing funding for the videotaping said it increased access to the district's decision making process.
"If we decide not to televise our meetings it makes it seem like we have something to hide," said Vanessa Poster.
"I meet people every week who tell me that they saw the meeting on television," Woodward said. "The cablecasts give people who are caregivers, who have small children or who have disabilities -- the people who are potentially the most impacted by our programs, the opportunity to learn more about the Health District."
But the issue was ultimately decided by matters of dollars and cents. Board members Clint Patterson and Gil Abdalian said the cost of the service out-weighed its benefits, but that they would be in favor of if it didn't cost the district any money.
"I think we have a hard enough time paying for the services we provide. If people really cared they'd be at these meetings," Paterson.
Money for the taping was budgeted in June, when the district approved a $7.2-million budget with a vote of 4-1. Among funds for programs on tai chi and living with diabetes was a fund of $10,500 set aside to pay each board member a stipend of $100 per meeting. Patterson, who voted against the budget, said that board members should be volunteers.
District staff is looking into usinr high school students as interns to tape the meetings possibly for live broadcast on cable. The state of the art broadcast equipment headed to the Health District would be an ideal training ground for area students once the program gets up and running hopefully by this fall. In the meantime, minutes and agendas will be posted on the district's website at www.bchd.org. ER
The Beach Cities Health district, which has about $61 million in reserves, is to receive $60,000 worth of television equipment as part of the city's franchise agreement with Adelphia Cable Company. Adelphia will also wire district buildings with fiber optic cable to allow live broadcasting from the health district meeting room in much the same manner as the City Council meetings. Until last Wednesday, Health District meetings were taped and rebroadcast on local cable several days later.
The organization that became the Beach Cities Health District was set up in 1955 to provide medical service to the Beach Cities. They built and operated the South Bay Hospital, but by the early 1980s, market forces, including the rise of managed health care drove the district to lease the hospital a private firm. Unable to turn a profit on the site, the firm returned the building in 1998. It is now a community health and outpatient care center operated by the district and Little Company of Mary Hospital. The district still collects $1.1 million annually in property taxes and runs a number of health and fitness programs for Beach Cities residents. ER