Hempstead fails to archive videos of town board meetings
Hempstead Town Hall is seen in an undated photo. Photo Credit: Google
Although Hempstead began broadcasting town board meetings on its website in January 2016, it has not archived any of the videos as required by state law.
The New York State Open Meetings Law says municipalities that livestream meetings should post the videotaped record on their websites “for a reasonable time after the meeting.” However, the Hempstead video disappears as soon as the board adjourns.
But those lost meetings can be found at JusttheFactsMedia.com, a website created by Felix Procacci, a former unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Hempstead supervisor who regularly attends town board meetings.
Procacci has posted every town board meeting since Jan. 10, 2016, along with copies of town audits and town budgets.
Procacci said he maintains the website for free, accepting no advertising revenue.
“If more residents knew that [board meetings] were available, there would be more public awareness. Isn’t that better for society?” he said. “It shows it doesn’t take a lot of money for governments to become transparent.”
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