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Overcast Long Beach Democrats’ first council meeting streamed live
Community meetings, more Good and Welfare sessions to be held
For Long Beach resident Crystal Lake, it was about addressing concerns in the North Park community, from flooding and environmental issues to the completion of renovations slated for the Sherman Brown Memorial Playground.
“These projects were funded and never completed,” Lake said.
For Billy Kupferman, a member of the Long Beach Surfer’s Association, it was about beach overcrowding in the summer as the city’s surfing community continues to grow.
“The number of surfers here is growing by the day, even in the winter,” Kupferman said. “We cannot continue to force our community members, our children and anyone who pays to use our beach to surf in overcrowded and unsafe conditions … eventually someone will get hurt.”
These were among the many issues raised at the Jan. 17 City Council meeting, attended by more than 200 residents, where the new Democratic-majority council held its first Good and Welfare session, streamed live for the first time on the city’s website.
The council passed a resolution to hold Good and Welfare sessions twice a month, at every meeting, a move that was in keeping with its new members’ campaign promises and part of a broader effort, they said, to engage the community.
Additionally, council meetings will continue to be streamed live and made available on the Web. The live stream attracted more than 200 unique viewers, city spokesman Gordon Tepper said, and more than 500 people had viewed the archived webcast as of early this week. The website itself, Tepper added, is in the process of being revamped to be more user-friendly.
In the run-up to the election, council President Fran Adelson said she believed that all meetings should be broadcast or streamed to better inform residents. “It’s another vehicle to include people in the process,” she said, adding that the equipment needed to stream the proceedings cost $630. “Certain people can’t get to City Council meetings — they have children or are out of town — but they’re still interested to know what’s going on.”
