BRADENTON — Manatee County Commissioners delayed an administrative action Tuesday, moving to restore the local government’s meeting livestream to Facebook until staff provides a presentation on the matter. Manatee County Government announced two days ago that, in an effort to reduce “unnecessary duplication” and save money, commission meetings would no longer be livestreamed on Facebook and would instead return to their previous YouTube-only venue.
The Sunday Facebook post began, “To streamline our meeting broadcasts and eliminate the unnecessary duplication of streaming the same content simultaneously on two platforms, Manatee County will now stream public meetings exclusively on YouTube…. Comments will remain turned off on YouTube due to the substantial cost associated with properly capturing and archiving them as public records.” Before providing instructions on how citizens could submit official public comment to the commission.
Manatee County Commission and Manatee County Planning Commission videos have been livestreamed and archived on the government’s YouTube channel since at least 2015. However, after new commissioners were seated following the 2024 local elections, including the late Commissioner Carol Ann Felts, the board majority moved to reverse two highly unpopular actions related to public engagement: reinstating social media commenting and restoring citizens’ ability to call in to a meeting to provide public comment…