SECTION 1

Purpose and Policy Statement.

The ‘Livestreaming and Recording of Meetings Policy’ (the Policy) provides information and procedures in relation to the recording and livestreaming of those public meetings convened by the Goodland City Commission.

This operational policy reflects the Commission’s commitment to transparent and accessible decision making processes with the introduction of livestreaming and archiving of Regular and Special Meetings of Commission; whilst noting that Executive Sessions that are closed to the public under a proper K.S.A Statute will not be recorded.

The objective of the Policy is to improve accessibility and community participation in relation to decision making processes. It is desired that livestreaming and publishing the video recordings of meetings on the City of Goodland website will provide more flexible and convenient access to a wider audience, thereby resulting in greater community awareness and confidence in the integrity and accountability of decision making processes.

SECTION 2

Scope.

This Policy applies to:

• Regular and Special Meetings of the Commission, in addition to any other public forums or meetings as authorized by the City Manager;
• Commissioners and staff of the City of Goodland; and
• Members of the public and attendees at applicable meetings under this policy.

The policy does not extend to any Executive Sessions that are closed to the public under a proper K.S.A Statute.

SECTION 3

Definitions

• Chair. Person presiding over the meeting; usually the Mayor or Vice-Mayor.
• Commission. The City of Goodland Commission; the governing body.
• City Manager. The City of Goodland City Manager.
• Regular Meeting. A regularly scheduled meeting of the Commission.
• Special Meeting. A Commission meeting held any time outside of the Commission’s regular meeting schedule.
• Executive Session. A meeting session that is closed to the public under  a proper K.S.A. statute for set time allotments.

SECTION 4

Procedures

Meetings to be Live-streamed and recorded

Regular and Special Commission Meetings held in the Commission Chamber will be streamed live on the internet via the City of Goodland’s authorized services listed at goodlandks.gov/live-stream. Recordings of the meetings will remain on the aforementioned sites. Executive Sessions will not be recorded but will have a notation during the livestreams and recordings that an executive session is taking place.

Other meetings held in the Commission Chamber or other appropriate locations as authorized by the City Manager may also be streamed live. Those meetings that are unable to be live-streamed will be recorded and uploaded to the authorized services.

There may be situations where, due to technical difficulties a livestream may not be available. Whilst every effort will be made to ensure the livestreaming and website are up functioning smoothly, the Commission and City of Goodland staff take no responsibility for and cannot be held liable for the livestreaming or Commission website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond its control. Technical issues may include, but are not limited to, the availability of the internet connection, device failure or malfunction, unavailability of social media platforms or power outages.

Access to Archived Recordings

Regular and Special Commission Meetings that are streamed live on the internet will remain on the City of Goodland’s authorized services and will be available to be viewed by the public free of charge. Executive Sessions closed to the public are not recorded.

Notice to Meeting Attendees and Viewers

• By attending a City Commission meeting, those in attendance consent to being recorded.
• The City of Goodland has established processes for receiving public comments, which does not include social media. As such, questions and comments posted to social media during a live broadcast will not be responded to by any City of Goodland Commissioner or staff.

Termination of Livestream and Corrections

Public Commission meetings are an open forum of statements, questions and answers. Occasionally, comments could be made which may be regarded as offensive, defamatory, inaccurate or contrary to law. By livestreaming and publishing recordings of meetings, the potential audience is significantly increased, which also increases the likelihood of such occurrences. Accordingly:

• The City of Goodland does not accept any responsibility for comments made during meetings which are inaccurate, incorrect or defamatory and does not warrant nor represent that the material or statements made during the streamed meetings are complete, reliable, accurate or free from error. The Commission does not accept any responsibility or liability for any loss, damage, cost, or expense you might incur as a result of the viewing, use or reliance of information or statements provided in the livestreaming/recording of Commission meetings.

• The City Manager and/or Chair have the discretion and authority during a meeting to correct inaccuracies and/or direct the termination or interruption of livestreaming if they believe it is advisable to do so. Such direction will only be given in exceptional circumstances, where the content of debate is considered misleading, defamatory, or potentially inappropriate to be published.

• Following any meeting, the City Manager and/or Chair has discretion to direct the exclusion of all or part of any meeting recording which he/she deems to be inappropriate. Material considered as inappropriate may include, but is not limited to:
  • Profanity, Vulgarity or Obscenity
  • Hate Speech or Discrimination
  • Inaccuracies or Misinformation
  • Defamation
  • Infringement of Copyright
  • Breach of Privacy or Disclosure of Personal Information
  • Confidential or Privileged Commission Information

• The opinions or statements made during the meeting are those of the individuals, and not necessarily the opinions or statements of the City of Goodland. The City of Goodland does not necessarily endorse or support the views, opinions, standards, or information contained in the livestreaming/recording of the Commission meetings.

This Policy was passed by Resolution on May 4, 2020 by the City of Goodland Commission.

Resolution 1564