At the Wednesday, December 16 Lancaster County commissioners meeting, a local technology contractor’s presentation spurred a discussion among the commissioners regarding the benefits and dangers of public-private partnerships. Ren Baker, CEO of CDS Solutions Group, had explained to the commissioners how his firm has provided the County with webcasting media services and equipment at a discounted cost because of the promotional value of serving such a high-profile client.
Since 2007, CDS has been working with the County to develop a process of posting ‘video minutes’ from public meetings onto the web. The purpose of this imitative, the commissioners explained, has been to increase the county government’s transparency and accessibility to residents, many of whom can rarely make it to a Tuesday or Wednesday morning meeting.
According to Chief Clerk/Deputy County Administrator Adrea McCue, the County currently has CDS engaged in a 36 month contract (January 2009 to November 2011) at a rate of $412.50 per month.
Commissioner Lehman asserted that, although he appreciates this particular partnership, the act of “selling government” should never be handled lightly by public officials. “I think it’s something we really should struggle with,” Lehman said. According to Lehman, “Government shouldn’t be for sale. And once you start selling government to a significant extent, you become reliant on those revenues. Then the question becomes, what’s the conflict of interest that results from that?”
Lehman said that the concern “bubbled up” for him this week when he noticed three newly-installed flat-panel televisions in the County’s public meeting space. “Frankly, when I saw the monitors, I said, ‘Wait a minute, this is too much.’ And then I was quickly informed that we’re not paying for these. Basically what you’re doing for us is you are using our meetings to help showcase your product.”
Lehman stressed, however, that he respects the specific partnership with CDS, having likened it to a previous collaboration between the County and area advertisers to print a free county directory of services.
Commissioner Scott Martin agreed that “there is always a line that you have to be careful that you don’t go past” with such partnerships, but applauded CDS for helping advance the County’s efforts to increase public participation in the political process: “There’s only so much print in a newspaper, only so much time on a newscast, and when you read minutes, they don’t always tell the full story,” Martin said.
To view commissioners meeting webcasts online, click here.
