Most S.C. municipalities don't livestream regular meetings

Editor’s note: This is another story in a planned series of stories on livestreaming and other transparency issues affecting local or state government in South Carolina.

By RICK BRUNDRETT

More than two-thirds of the 271 incorporated towns and cities in South Carolina do not livestream their regular council meetings, The Nerve found in a review of official websites and social media accounts.

The 187 municipalities that weren’t livestreaming as of mid-November – 166 towns and 21 cities, or 69% of the total 271 – range in population from 32 residents in the town of Cope in Orangeburg County to 42,766 residents in the city of Sumter in the Sumter County, according to the July 1, 2023, population estimates by the state Revenue and Fiscal Affairs (RFA) Office, based on U.S. Census data.  

Including the city of Sumter, 20 of the state’s 46 county seats don’t livestream their regular meetings, The Nerve’s review found.

The Nerve in October revealed that nearly 30% of South Carolina’s regular school districts weren’t livestreaming their official board meetings, though nearly all of them have websites and at least one social media account.

Under a House bill filed this month – sponsored by Rep. Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort, who chairs the Education and Public Works Committee, and co-sponsored by House Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, and Rep. Brandon Newton, R-Lancaster – public school boards would have to “make reasonable and necessary efforts” to livestream full regular and special board meetings.

The Nerve’s latest review found that 65, or nearly a quarter, of the total 271 incorporated municipalities don’t have official websites – typically small towns. Of the 65, 80% had populations of fewer than 500 residents as of the 2023 RFA population estimates.

That included, for example, the Chesterfield County town of Mount Croghan, which had a 2023 estimated population of 133.  Asked last month about why its town council doesn’t livestream meetings, Lisa Johnson, who is the town’s clerk/treasurer, said only in a written response to The Nerve, “Small Town and lack of interest.”

Supporters say that livestreaming government meetings, which allows viewers to watch proceedings in real time over the internet, fosters greater citizen participation, improves transparency and increases accountability of elected officials.

State law doesn’t require livestreaming of meetings of school boards or county, city or town councils. The S.C. General Assembly on its website livestreams floor debates during legislative sessions, though as the South Carolina Policy Council – the parent organization of The Nerve – has pointed out, while livestreaming of some legislative committee meetings has improved recently, other committees are either sporadically doing it or not at all.

In its priority list for the legislative session that starts in January, the Policy Council has called for livestreaming of state and local government meetings.

No ‘strong interest’

As part of its latest review, The Nerve sent written questions in November and this month to 110 towns or cities statewide, whether or not they livestream their meetings. A dozen municipalities responded.

The city of Sumter – which is the Sumter County seat and the largest municipality in The Nerve’s review that wasn’t livestreaming meetings as of mid-November – didn’t respond to written questions. The city has official Facebook, YouTube, X and Instagram accounts.

At least 66 no-livestreaming municipalities, or 35% of the total in that category, have at least one official social media account.

In the city of York, which is the York County seat, City Manager Dalton Pierce told The Nerve in a written response last month that the city, which had an estimated 2023 population of 9,154, doesn’t livestream or archive videos of council meetings.

“The installation of AV (audio-visual equipment) in our chambers is not an expense we have budgeted for, and we do not have any set time to undertake this initiative,” he said.

Asked if any city residents have told him or other city officials that  council meetings should be livestreamed, Pierce replied, “Directly through formal communication, maybe less than a handful in my 2 years at the City.”

Hartsville Mayor Casey Hancock said the Darlington County city, which had a 2023 estimated population of 7,399, archives YouTube meeting videos on its website but doesn’t livestream meetings, though he added in his November written reply that the city is “moving towards livestreaming.”

Hancock said he didn’t know how much it will cost to livestream, noting he wants a “professional solution for Hartsville that would serve us well for a long time … and would produce videos that were easy to see and hear for the public because that’s what they deserve.”

In the city of Walterboro, which is the Colleton County seat and had a 2023 estimated population of 5,475, City Manager Jeff Molinari in his written reply last month said the municipality doesn’t livestream council meetings because there is not a “strong interest on the part of the public.”

In the town of Saluda, which is the Saluda County seat and had a 2023 estimated population of 1,573, Nicole Maffett, who is the town’s clerk/treasurer, said last month there is no livestreaming or video recording of meetings, adding, “At this time our council is not interested in livestreaming, but if we were, we would go through our IT department to help us set this up.”

Asked if any residents suggested that the town livestream its council meetings, Maffett in her written response replied, “Not to me.”

COVID kickstart

North Myrtle Beach spokeswoman Lauren Jessie said in her written response last month that city council meetings were livestreamed during the COVID pandemic but stopped around May 2020 when in-person meetings resumed, though meetings are audio recorded to help with the writing of the official minutes.

Jessie said the Horry County city, which had a 2023 estimated population of 121,469, plans to officially restart livestreaming meetings next month via its YouTube channel.

The city of Barnwell, which is the county seat of Barnwell County and had a 2023 estimated population of 4,577, started livestreaming during the pandemic via Facebook, recording with a phone initially and later used about $30,000 in federal COVID-relief funds to “upgrade our facilities with newer audio and video equipment, TV/computer monitors and cameras,” City Administrator Lynn McEwen said in a written response last month.

“We were using an old projector before!” McEwen jokingly noted.

Forest Acres Mayor Tom Andrews said the Richland County city, which had a 2023 estimated population of 10,376, began livestreaming council meetings  during the pandemic using Zoom and “specifically decided to continue the practice after COVID.”

“While livestreaming and during the time in our agenda for community input, we specifically solicit from those on Zoom whether they have comments or not,” he said in his written response last month.

Andrews said although city staff can handle the “technical aspects of livestreaming,” if the state “wanted to encourage livestreaming, they could use a carrot approach and underwrite to some extent the audio/video system and provide basic training for city staffers.”

S.C. lawmakers will begin work on the state budget for next fiscal year, which starts July 1, when they return to Columbia next month.

Nerve interns Jasmine Creech, Laura Anne Kay and Abagael Strating contributed to this story. Brundrett is the news editor of The Nerve (www.thenerve.org). Contact him at 803-394-8273 or [email protected]. Follow The Nerve on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerlyTwitter) @thenervesc.

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