Webcasting would increase access, help people in Hobbs interact

COMMENTARY: I salute the heavy burden the Hobbs Commission agreed to carry in helping Hobbs maintain, grow and thrive. It is by no means easy to balance the needs of the city with the desires of the city! Its also difficult to allocate funds in a balanced way and address failures and repairs before they occur.

Dennis Barcuch

We should all know their burden and applaud their bravery! I want them to know sincerely that they are not invisible.

Or are they?

My many efforts to attend the 6 p.m. Monday commission meetings have failed. My two companies begin early in the day (before the sunrise) and end late in the day (5-7 p.m.). My girls go to a combined three dance classes per week, and my daughter and I attend a two-hour voice/piano class each week. Now, In the summer, the girls have swim lessons.

I’m out during the day marketing my businesses, only finding time to slow late in the evening or the middle of the day. By Commission meeting time, I am tired or active with the family. I feel very strongly that I should see the actions and participate in the mechanics of my community, so I’m struggling for access.

I appreciate the efforts to facilitate access by having a radio station simulcast proceedings live. I’m sure its great for some who have a portable radio or have quiet in their home with which to listen. But in the evening — with 4- and 7-year-old daughters, both with high energy levels — I find listening to the radio completely impractical without quieting them (also impractical) or isolating myself again from my family for the hours the meetings take.

I have also found that I can’t rewind my radio to hear a sound byte again if I wish. I must listen more intently, missing information. I’m afraid I don’t enjoy radio as an option.

Yes, I can easily purchase a CD of the proceedings to listen. I tried that once, but I found it was weeks before I was able to hear the whole meeting, and had to transfer the CD from computer at my desk to my truck’s CD player to my home computer when I wanted to hear it. I would subsequently have to search for the spot where I had left off to resume the audio.

An affordable, portable solution

I know that these ideas were great in an age where other easier, technologies were not available or were too expensive, but the fact is, they are archaic in their application (and have no feedback) and there is an affordable, more portable solution: webcasting!

I would truly love to be able to stream or download video/audio of the meetings to my iPhone and iPad and desktop or laptop. Oh my gosh! Do you realize the access that simple change would give me?

I would get to see the faces of the very men and women who I call my leaders. I can put a name to a position, put a smile to a voice, see work in action, as they cringe at a bad idea or shake their head at a great one!

I could see them work their magic and could show them to my daughter, who is just starting to learn how government works. She doesn’t have to sit bored listening to a non-identifiable voice coming from the speaker.

I could download the meetings and watch and listen from my phone (which I always have with me). I could stop and start if I had a phone call. I could watch and/or listen at my desk and in my truck, at lunch or just before bed!

And if I were infirmed or working late, or feeble and bedbound, I could stream to my desktop or laptop and watch anytime — not just when I can get to a radio or CD player — and here’s a wonderful idea: On the links page, have a feedback section! Then, all the agenda items can be instantly answered, so our commission, as well as the rest of the public, can see exactly what the response is! Not only is the response instant, it consolidates and can shorten the long comment times in the chamber itself! Wow!

I can see several things happening:

The commission has the “pulse of the city” — our feelings and ideas on an issue — and commissioners won’t feel alone in making a decision! They will have so much feedback and so many ideas to work with, it will seem like a city-large brainstorm! People also won’t have to wait in line for a turn to give a response at the meetings. If they have a simple idea or response they can give it here and save time!
The newspapers and media get more information on the same pulse and can report in the paper, driving even more constituents to the city’s pages, helping the process even more! Imagine editors having a new section entitled “Commission Feedback Stream” that posts the best ideas that week. Talk about driving discussion!
It gives access of city proceedings to the next generation of Hobbsans. They can learn from the best. Schools and other education can stream or download video of the meetings rather than depend on a CD.
People really feel attached and involved with city action and this will increase commissioners’ attachment to their constituents! Imagine finally not being in the dark regarding ideas that may benefit your district!

Something everyone can be excited about

I want to express the probability that commissioner popularity will jump exponentially with shut-ins, working blue-collared, disabled, civic-minded and concerned citizens by installing a webcam service here in your chambers. Smart-phone technology allows streamed videos, movies, audio books, music, podcasts, and soon city commission proceedings.

The value of positive exposure to the members of this commission is untold. This positive exposure is expressed in the extended feedback from the community that will have not been able to see these great people in action.

It’s hard to see all administrative actions that occur. But during the course of a day I’m able to take an hour or so to watch and listen to things that are important to me. If I had access I could click on at the lunch hour and watch what happened and what was accomplished at meetings I missed. I could feel more in tune with my leaders’ intent to help the community and decide if I should come talk to them or interact with their decisions! I would love that!

I’m sure others feel this way, and I’m excited that it’s a possibility that the members of the commission might feel this way. An ability to interact more easily is, I’m sure, something everyone, commissioners included, can be excited about.

Here’s the purpose of web cameras: