This is why we need to stream more city meetings!

On Thursday, January, 9, 2020, the city had several public meetings. The first of three meetings I attended that day was that of the Cemetery Board. It was such an amazing meeting I wish it had been live-streamed so that y’all could see how it went.  The board was having a great discussion. Ideas were being thrown out there and the various aspects of each were examined until the board reached a solution.  In some meetings (not specifying city meetings, but just meetings in general), it seems as if often times one idea will be suggested and everyone just agrees without discussion and then action is taken. This particular Cemetery Board meeting was an excellent demonstration of collaboration. It was FANTASTIC!  I’m so honored to be a part of it.

You may remember that I pushed to get all city meetings live-streamed and while I’m grateful that we now stream the City Council and Planning & Zoning Commission  meetings, this Cemetery Board meeting reinvigorated my desire for all public meetings in City Hall to be streamed. I think it’s not just important for folks to know what is happening, but the process behind those decisions - the how/why in the decision-making process.  Often times from the outside, it can look like there’s no rhyme or reason for some of the choices that the city makes, but seeing the discussion of those boards that lead to the decisions made by Council, could really provide additional understanding of how the city works. Not only that, but folks would get a chance to see the hard work and dedication of our volunteer board members.  Thank you to all our board volunteers and staff for your collaborative efforts to serve the residents and make a better Waxahachie!
 

If you’re interested in being involved and serving on any city boards, please fill out an application and submit it to the City Secretary’s office. The link to do so is here: http://www.waxahachie.com/government/boards_commissions.php  Board appointments are made in August or September of every year, but sometimes there are openings on a board before that time, so having your application on file with the City Secretary, would help us fill an open position until appointments are made for that year. 

Regarding live-streaming... The company we currently use, Swagit, has done a great job breaking down meetings by agenda number and displaying the agenda next to the video.  It helps greatly when wanting to go to a specific part of the meeting. In fact, the City of Waxahachie just added information about our streamed meetings on the website the other day.  You can find that at the following link:  http://www.waxahachie.com/news_detail_T6_R118.php