The weekly St. John’s council meetings are getting a technological facelift.
Newly installed wall-mounted cameras, television screens, new microphones and other electronic upgrades will give the public greater access to what’s happening at city hall, said Mayor Danny Breen.
“It’s a great opportunity to engage the public, a great opportunity to improve our openness and transparency so people can see the decisions being made,” he said after the regular Monday evening council meeting.
“It’s been a long time since these facilities were upgraded and technology has changed considerably, and the demands of the public are different. The public wants and deserves access to this information, and deserves to see government working, and we need to provide that information to the public.”
The upgrades will mean council and committee meetings, public hearings and other events held in the chambers will be live-streamed on the city’s website and social media channels.
The council meeting will still be aired on Rogers TV, but the city will do its own taping using the wall-mounted cameras.
New microphones for councillors have also improved the sound quality of the meetings.
Councillors will also be able to vote on issues using their electronic devices – a large screen in the chambers will display who voted and how they voted on various issues.
The hardware is already installed, and the city is working to install the software.
Breen expects the upgrades will work to full capacity by April or May.
Over the past several weeks, meetings were held in the Foran Greene Room across the hall while the work was completed in council chambers.
