Bringing The Board Meeting Home

About the Program

Category: Information Technology (Best in Category)

Year: 2018

King George County, a community of approximately 25,000 citizens and comprising 188 square miles, sought to enable greater citizen access to its Board of Supervisors meetings. Like many rural communities, the county’s residents face challenges with transportation and time to attend public assemblies. In response, King George County pursued technical solutions to address this issue. Remote meeting software is now being used to afford residents an opportunity to not only view public meetings in progress, but to also participate. King George County citizens are able to make public comment via telephone or videoconference without their physical presence being required at the Board of Supervisors meetings. The initiative allows for greater transparency in the local government process and greater involvement from the county’s disenfranchised communities. King George County’s IT staff identified a web-based application that can be used to queue and manage remote participants. Citizens can call or access a link via the County website. Once verified by the staff, the remote participants are called upon first during the designated time for public comment. This technology can be used by any citizen possessing a landline, cell phone, computer or tablet. This accessibility has successfully closed the communication gap with the government and their constituents who were formerly inaccessible due to disabilities, economic challenges, or had conflicting commitments with work or family.