Residents in La Palma, one of Orange County’s smallest cities, continue to demand video live streaming access for city council meetings to make it easier to engage with local government from home.
Of the 34 cities in Orange County, only La Palma and Rancho Santa Margarita provide audio-only access to their council meetings. Every other city in the county offers video live streaming with playback.
The lack of videostreaming at public meetings has prompted state legislators to consider legislation mandating such access at all city council and county supervisors meetings, among others.
[Read: Santana: Defending Your Right to Watchdog Local Government From Home]
In a 2023 investigation by Chapman University journalism students working with Voice of OC, La Palma and Rancho Santa Margarita both received a “D” ranking for their limited online public access. All other cities received an “A” or “B” grade.
[Read: Making it Easy to Watch Local Government From Home]
La Palma Councilmember Janet Keo Conklin tried to bring the issue forward at the Jan. 14 council meeting, but when she made a motion to add a video option in addition to audio, the effort died due to the lack of a second.
That means none of her colleagues supported the item to bring it to a full council vote.
[Read: La Palma City Hall Resists Residents Watching Official Deliberations From Home]
Now, there’s expected to be another discussion about livestreaming during Tuesday night’s council meeting.
Council members are slated to discuss 2025 goals and objectives tonight. The first goal includes a subsection that mentions potentially using YouTube to stream meetings and events.
In a phone interview on April 12, Councilmember Nitesh Patel said city staff are looking into using social media platforms to livestream meeting video.
“We need to make sure we dot our i’s and cross our t’s,” Nitesh Patel said, “so when we bring something like this, it’s not just for a few select — it’s for everybody.”
In a follow-up email on April 24, he said staff is in the initial stages of preparing a report about how other cities broadcast meetings.
He said the council is expected to move forward on this goal once the city finishes the process of hiring a new city manager but did not offer any specific details regarding cost or timeline.
“Once we determine the preferred methods for broadcasting council meetings and community events, we plan to request three to four proposals,” Nitesh Patel wrote. “These bids will detail the associated costs and provide a clear implementation strategy to guide us in moving forward effectively.”
City leaders appointed Michael Egan as the interim city manager, effective April 28, and hired a firm to search for a permanent city manager after Conal McNamara left to serve as the city manager in Whittier.
Although there is no legal requirement to livestream meeting video, most cities provide the option in order to help residents follow along with city business without having to attend in person.
“Just doing the minimum is not always what everybody wants or expects,” said Samuel Stone, a public administration professor at Fullerton College.
“But if they are not hearing from their citizens or their residents that they want that, then it’s difficult to make the case that it’s really necessary.”
Many cities began live streaming city council meetings on YouTube during the pandemic — along with some local school boards.
La Palma Residents Ask For Video Streaming
Audio-only council meetings can make it difficult for residents to engage from home, especially for the elderly, people who are hard of hearing, residents with disabilities or caregivers.
For Barbara Espalin, who has lived in La Palma since 1967, getting to meetings is a challenge at 84 years old. She notes the audio is often difficult to understand.
“The audio does not help, I am hard of hearing,” she wrote in an interview over text on April 8. “My daughter and grandchildren help me access the recording, but I can’t hear it.”
She noted that the refusal to provide video access to meetings reflects a lack of transparency.
“The city refusing to stream makes me feel like they are hiding things, because if I can’t be there or watch it live, I don’t know what’s going on,” she wrote.
Maxine Espalin, another La Palma resident and granddaughter to Barbara Espalin, said it’s a challenge to come down to city hall to attend and make comments at meetings as a single mother.
“So anytime there is an issue, what are the options for me or for the elderly or for people with disabilities?” Maxine Espalin said in an interview on April 1 at city hall. “I have a friend who has a daughter with disabilities, so she couldn’t be here tonight.”
She attended the council meeting on April 1, asking the council to livestream city council meeting video. In an interview after the meeting, she emphasized providing video would increase transparency and accessibility for residents to tune in for issues they care about.
“Why are they making it so difficult for people to attend town halls when the rest of Orange County livestreams (video)?” she said.
Some city officials claim the demand doesn’t exist.
In an April 1 interview following a city council meeting, Mayor Mark Waldman said not very many residents utilize the existing audio stream.
“When you take a look at how many people are listening to the audio, it’s very few, so there isn’t really a demand for the service,” he said.
He said there’s no need to alter the current system because adding video wouldn’t increase transparency.
“We speak and test our votes verbally,” Waldman said.
Councilwoman Conklin said she supported adding video to increase accessibility, citing moments during staff presentations when online viewers couldn’t see items projected onto the screen in the council chambers.
She added that she has nothing to hide.
“My core value is transparency and accountability,” she said in an interview after the April 1 city council meeting.
Councilmembers Vikesh Patel — who is Nitesh Patel’s brother — and Debbie Baker did not respond to requests.
Robert Carruth, another La Palma resident, said the council should be following the example of other small cities that have already implemented video. He’s been a local watchdog in the city since 2010, and he’s been vocal about this issue in recent years.
“Why are we not doing what every other city except for Rancho Santa Margarita does, including small cities like Los Alamitos, Villa Park and Stanton?” he said in a phone interview on April 9.
“Residents shouldn’t have to beg for it.”
Is Cost The Issue?
La Palma officials say live streaming city council meetings is just too expensive.
“The cost is exorbitant,” Nitesh Patel said. “When we bring something that is $100,000 or $150,000 to implement, people are going to scream at us and yell at us, saying, ‘Well, that’s too expensive.’”
Councilwoman Conklin said cost is not a good justification for refusing to stream video because the council allocated money towards updating the audio stream and renovating city hall.
Carruth agreed that cost shouldn’t be an issue.
“The money is there,” Carruth said. “They just refuse to make public access to public meetings a higher priority.”
The cost to livestream video can vary depending on the city.
Aliso Viejo spends over $13,000 yearly to video livestream their meetings on Granicus, a software company used by governments, according to City Clerk Janet Martinez.
In Placentia, the city also live streams using Granicus, which provides an online archive of meeting agendas and video. The entire contract averages about $40,000 annually, according to Communications and Marketing Manager Nicolette Drulias.
In Brea, the city spends just over $3,600 each year to livestream meetings using the Cablecast Reflect Plus system, according to Public Information Officer Liz Pharis.
Mayor Waldman said that he would not stop members of the public from livestreaming the meetings themselves in La Palma.
“Anybody can come and video the meeting,” he said.
Why Livestream Video?
Marisol Ramirez, interim co-executive director for Orange County Civic Reporting Database, a project that tracks and evaluates transparency and accessibility in local government across Orange County, said a video option for council meetings increases local participation.
“Having poor local participation is definitely a symptom of poor accessibility,” she said in a phone interview on April 1. “It’s not a justification for it.”
Stone, the Fullerton College professor, said the issue affects not only residents but also business owners in the city.
“It’s expensive to send a staff member out there to be present at a city council meeting, especially if they’re voting on something that affects your business like a contract or zoning change,” he said.
Other government agencies have already updated their platforms to add a video live streaming option for residents to use.
Following years of student reporting on video live streaming the City of Laguna Woods and the Orange County Transportation Agency began video live streaming their meetings last year.
[Read: OC’s Transportation Agency Begins Video Streaming Public Meetings]
The Garden Grove Unified School District also moved to livestream their meetings in March, joining the majority of school districts that provide a livestream.
[Read: Garden Grove Unified Starts Livestreaming School Board Meetings]
Ramirez said video allows all residents to advocate for issues they are passionate about.
“This is why local government fails its people,” Ramirez said.
“The local government doesn’t always feel like they need to overextend themselves to meet the community where they’re at.”
Isabel Torres is a Voice of OC intern. You can contact her at isabtorres@chapman.edu
Angelina Hicks is the Voice of OC Collegiate News Service Editor. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13
Erika Taylor is a Voice of OC Tracy Wood Reporting Fellow and photojournalist. You can find her on Instagram @camerakeepsrolling or email at etaylor@voiceofoc.org