Gilpin supervisors hear complaint about stopping livestreaming public meetings

The Gilpin supervisors are fielding complaints after deciding to stop livestreaming public meetings.

According to a social media post by Supervisor Charles Stull, the issue of livestreaming meetings was raised by a “few board members” and added to the February voting meeting agenda for discussion.

“Once on the topic, I immediately made a motion to continue livestreaming and to establish a clear policy on how it would be handled, including guidelines for video retention and who would be responsible for managing the process,” Stull wrote.

The February voting meeting was not recorded. Stull denied a request for further comment or to clarify which board members raised concerns about livestreaming.

According to Stull, meetings were livestreamed at the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic to adhere to the government’s call to shelter in place.

“It died off for a while when my personal laptop, which I used at the time, could no longer support it,” Stull wrote.

He said a new laptop was purchased for the township secretary last year, and livestreaming started up again. He was chairman of the supervisors at the time.

“I made the decision to restart livestreaming to promote transparency and encourage public involvement in our local government’s decisions,” Stull wrote.

Gilpin resident Anna Bauer spoke against the decision at the meeting. She said she decided to attend the meeting when she saw the livestream was a topic on the agenda.

“I am not sure why the supervisors’ board would vote to stop streaming to the public considering this is a resource for transparency and accessibility that is beneficial to every taxpayer,” Bauer said during the meeting.

She told TribLive the supervisors’ decision to stop the livestream was disappointing.

Stull’s post said that during the discussion meeting, multiple board members expressed concerns that they did not want meetings to be “overanalyzed or scrutinized by the public.”

They suggested that “those who are truly interested should attend in person,” he wrote. “Ultimately, my motion to continue the livestream failed due to a lack of a second, and livestreaming will be discontinued for the foreseeable future.”

Stull did not specify which board members he was referring to. Bauer said not everyone can make the meetings.

“Some people in the community may not have reliable transportation,” she said. “Not everyone can come out when it’s 8 degrees outside. … In my opinion, there’s no actual good reason that they wouldn’t want people to see the livestream, so what do they not want people to see?”

She also questioned the space available in meeting chambers, and if it would have enough room to accommodate the same amount of people that watch the meetings.

The latest stream garnered more than 350 views on YouTube. Tina Thompson, chairwoman of the supervisors, told TribLive the board has no further comment.

In response to the decision, Bauer created a Facebook group called Gilpin Township Board of Supervisors Informational where she plans to post audio recordings of the meetings in replacement of the videos.

She created a similar informational social media group at the beginning of 2024 for Leechburg Area School Board meetings. The board has since started recording and posting meetings.

“(The supervisors) were elected, and we deserve to know what their actions will be.” Bauer said. “Residents’ taxes are going to these actions. We have the right to know what’s being done.”

Supervisor voting meetings are held on the third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Gilpin Township Municipal Building.