Transparency
The intent of the bill's live stream provision is to codify WSSC's current practices & to give them more flexibility on how they assess late fees.
Please support legislation to increase transparency at WSSC.
Financial:
1. Requirement to Livestream Meeting: May require additional equipment to mitigate failure due
to technical issues with video recording equipment.
2. Change in Late Fee Assessment: Changes to late payment charges could impact revenues.
Administrative:
1. Requirement to Livestream Meeting: Commission meetings may be delayed or have to be
canceled due to technical issues with video recording equipment. Emergency meetings could
be harder to organize as they will have to be video streamed.
2. Change in Late Fee Assessment: Could require changes to the existing billing regulations and
procedures.
Technological:
1. Requirement to Livestream Meeting: Additional equipment may be required to account for
redundancy.
2. Change in Late Fee Assessment: Changes to the existing billing system will be required.
Most of their "concerns" can be satisfied by adding language i.e. “to the fullest extent practicable” and “nothing in this section shall be construed to invalidate a commission vote on a health or emergency measure in the event of technical streaming interruption as long as the vote otherwise complies with the open meetings act”
Important to note:
October 2020 Commissioner Meeting experienced technical difficulties but they didn't interfere with the live stream.
Meeting minutes are not an exact representation of what's said or presented during the meetings
Ratepayers rely on the live stream to be actively informed since buildings are closed to the public
WSSC has been successfully livestreaming & archiving Commissioner Mtgs for many two years
WSSC would have the option to reduce the late fee assessment under this bill -- it's not a mandate as they make it seem
It's NOT hard to get FOIA's completed -- that was a misunderstanding