Commission votes for live streaming of meetings

Iron County Commissioner Casey Anderson speaks during a town hall he scheduled Friday night to discuss the proposed local options sales tax, Cedar City, Utah, June 24, 2016 | Photo by Tracie Sullivan, St. George News/Cedar City News

CEDAR CITY – Iron County Interim Commissioner Casey Anderson, running for Commission Seat A, was able to fulfill one of his campaign promises to live stream the commission meetings.

The action, introduced by Anderson during Monday’s commission meeting, came the day before the primary election on June 28 when Republican voters will decide whether to keep Anderson or move Mike Bleak into office come January 2017.

Anderson made the motion to approve $3,000 for the purchase and setup of the live streaming equipment, despite opposition from one of his fellow commissioners and pause from the other.

Commissioner Dale Brinkerhoff opposed the action. He pointed to the ongoing issue the commission is currently discussing, as to whether to remodel the existing Iron County Courthouse in Parowan where they now meet or construct a new building, as his reason for dissent.

“It’s not that I’m against live streaming the meetings,” Brinkerhoff said. “I’m all for live streaming the meetings. I just don’t want to waste any money. I’d like to first see us make our decision on the other issue before deciding on this one.”

Commissioner Alma Adams took some time to consider the issue before deciding to second Anderson’s motion. He ultimately agreed after more discussion proved that the costs of redoing the system later after a move or remodel would be minimal.

In other business, the commission held a public hearing to discuss the proposal of allowing the voters to approve a .25 percent sales tax on this coming November’s ballot.

While the law did not require the hearing, Brinkerhoff said, Anderson had requested it to give the public an opportunity to speak to the issue. Anderson also called a town hall meeting last Friday to discuss the same issue with members of his constituency.

In an interview with Cedar City News, Anderson said his biggest concern is the lack of information available regarding the sales tax.

“There just isn’t enough information available to show the transportation needs of the cities and the counties,” Anderson said. “I think I could get behind this but I want to know what the needs are and I don’t know that right now.”

Several people spoke to the issue during Monday’s meeting, all of them expressing disapproval of the proposed tax on the ballot.

“I would urge the commissioners to vote against putting the sales tax on the ballot,” said Iron County resident Brad Green.

If approved by the voters, the tax will be distributed among the county, the various cities and the local public transportation system.

The commissioners have until August to make their decision. The public is invited to share their opinion via email between now and then.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews | @tracie_sullivan

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, all rights reserved.

 

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

1 Comment

  • onetruesteve August 12, 2016 at 11:10 pm

    It’s just a small, little tax, right? Too bad they all add up. I was once told to mind my nickels and dimes, and the dollars will take care of themselves. There are too many government agencies nickel and diming us to death! Think what we could do if we got to keep our own money!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.