County considers options for connecting with public

COEUR d'ALENE — The Kootenai County Board of Commissioners wants to make its meetings more accessible to the public.

Commissioner Marc Eberlein led a discussion with fellow commissioners Monday related to the county potentially expanding the duties of some of its staff for the purposes of transmitting public information, or broadcasting commissioners’ meetings. No one is currently serving as a public information officer at the county, and Eberlein said the topic of bringing one on has been discussed many times over the years.

“It’s a good idea to have a public information officer to summarize meetings like this in a purely factual manner,” Eberlein said.

Commissioner Chris Fillios agreed with the concept Eberlein suggested, but added implementing it will be a challenge.

Eberlein said the county may be able to dip its toes in the realm of public information without hiring a new employee to do so. He asked county staff members on hand at the weekly debriefing meeting if they could potentially expand their duties to include summarizing the many meetings commissioners have each week.

“It needs to be done well to maintain credibility,” said Nancy Jones, administrative supervisor for the county commissioners. “I believe very strongly in the concept, but we would want to go into it with a working plan on how it would play out.”

Jones added there might be certain topics discussed at meetings staff members might not be knowledgeable enough about to accurately summarize.

“What is the objective,” Fillios asked. “The function is essential, but how will we implement it?”

The objective, according to Eberlein, is to give members of the public an accurate look at what happens at meetings that typically take place during the workday and, as such, are sparsely attended. Another way to meet that goal, he added, would be to broadcast meetings on local cable like the cities of Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls.

“This is one way to forward transparency,” Eberlein replied. “The topic has generated conversation for years. Why are we not taking the next step?”