BERLIN – Meetings of the Worcester County Commissioners can now be viewed online.
As of this week, meetings held by the commissioners are being recorded. Within 24 hours of a meeting, the video is available for viewing on the county’s website.
“I’d like to thank all of my fellow commissioners for allowing this to happen,” Commissioner Joe Mitrecic said Tuesday at the start of the first recorded meeting.
Mitrecic, always quick to point out that Worcester was the only county in Maryland not recording meetings, has advocated for making the change since being elected. He has said that cost of installing a recording system was a small price to pay to keep county residents informed of government activities.
Though the commissioners agreed to plans to install a system last year, it was determined the software selected would not meet the county’s needs. After additional research staff identified a system created by a Texas company that was being used by many jurisdictions, including the Wicomico County Board of Education.
This summer, the commissioners agreed to spend $52,880 to purchase the high definition broadcast system.
Now that it’s in place, meetings are recorded and then indexed — broken down based on the agenda — before they’re placed on the county’s website for viewing.
The videos can be found at www.co.worcester.md.us under the “meeting files” tab. Videos should be available within 24 hours after a meeting has taken place.
