Starting Monday October 20, 2014, the Township of Esquimalt will begin webcasting its Council meetings. Residents interested in civic matters will now be able to view live and archived videos of Council meetings from the comfort of their own homes using their home computer, or on the road with their mobile device.
A link will be available on the Township home page which will redirect web visitors to a centralized portal. As content is added to the portal, users will be able to access not only videos, but supporting documents such as agendas, minutes, staff reports and presentations. Archived videos will be indexed, allowing viewers to jump to subjects of interest quickly, rather than watching the entire meeting. Users can also subscribe to an RSS feed and share content through social media.
“This is another step forward in our public engagement initiative, a Council strategic priority,” said CAO Laurie Hurst. “Residents and citizens will be able to stay informed of Council decisions with relative ease, and choose to watch entire meetings or only items that are of particular interest to them.”
The webcasting initiative is part of a broader Township citizen engagement platform which includes a paperless agenda management system. The new technologies will be managed by Township staff members, who have been trained over the past several weeks by open government software developer Granicus Inc. The initiative will reduce staff time in processing meeting information while increasing public access and transparency.
To access Township Council meetings online:
- Visit www.esquimalt.ca
- Click on the “Council Webcasting” link
- Choose the video, live or archived, that you would like to view
- On a mobile device? Click here.
Council’s 2014 meeting schedule is posted here. The October 20th meeting agenda is posted here.
The new webcasting and agenda management technology was developed by Granicus Inc., a leading provider of advanced web streaming technology, agenda management and citizen engagement tools throughout Canada and the United States.
For more information, please contact:
Anja Nurvo, Director of Corporate Services
Tel: 250-414-7135