Tuscumbia Council to resume livestreaming work sessions

The Tuscumbia City Council will resume livestreaming work sessions and regular meetings on social media.

The Council voted on the issue during its Dec. 15 meeting.

Prior to the latest members taking office, both regular sessions and the work sessions that preceded them were livestreamed on the City of Tuscumbia Facebook page.

New Mayor T.W. Billings changed the format to only livestreaming the regular session when voting takes place.

By law, Council meetings have to be open to the public — unless the members go into executive session — but there is no requirement for livestreaming.

The majority of discussion on items on the Council agenda happens during the work session, which is more informal.

The work sessions typically include a time for members of the audience to give their thoughts on items on the agenda, but those who speak sometimes bring up issues unrelated to the meeting.

Occasionally, audience members become passionate about an issue and speak out of turn away from a provided podium.

Such was the case during the final meeting of the previous City Council members in October, when audience members looking to bar large truck traffic from Hook Street began openly shouting during the work session.

There have been times when similar incidents have occurred, such as a few years ago when a Yule Festival coming to downtown sparked opposition from local religious groups.

Both aforementioned meetings ran much longer than typical and failed to maintain the usual format and order for audience participation.

Mayor-elect Billings and each of the newly elected Council members were at the October meeting that devolved into shouting, and Billings said incidents like that were what prompted him to cull the work sessions form livestreaming.

“I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the city for people to see a work session that can get out of hand,” Billings said. “Many municipalities don’t stream their (meetings). I promised when I was on the campaign trail that every decision I make was prefaced by one question — what’s the best for Tuscumbia as a whole? If a family or business was thinking about moving here — I don’t know if you saw the session with the speed bump and the fire department — but that would not be a good look for the city.”

During the Dec. 15 work session, resident Melissa Avery, who is a regular meeting attendee alongside her husband Jon, said she believes livestreaming entire meetings on social media is important, especially for citizens who cannot make it in person.

She said those who cannot attend in person often don’t have access to a copy of meeting agendas, and livestreaming meetings creates a record that can be looked back on for both residents and Council members alike in case a question arises about the issues covered.

Before the item came up for a vote, Billings told Council members they had three options available: the works sessions and regular sessions could be livestreamed, only the regular sessions could be livestreamed, or livestreaming the meetings could be ended altogether.

Council member Jennifer Bennetch made a motion to resume livestreaming both sessions, and the measure passed 5-1, with Billings being the lone vote against.

It is worth noting that meeting livestreams are carried out by Capt. Mike Smallwood of the Tuscumbia Police Department, and any meetings he is unable to attend are not livestreamed, so not every meeting is recorded.

This has been the case going back multiple years before the newest mayor and Council members took office.