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The Daily Tar Heel

Orange County Commissioners will hold daytime work sessions

Up to three work sessions for the Orange County Board of Commissioners will be held during the day this year, the commissioners decided at a meeting Tuesday night.

Regular meetings will still be held at night, and though the work sessions are not open to public comment, the public can attend.

The idea was first brought up in April 2009 by Commissioner Vice Chairman Steve Yuhasz. He said some people can’t attend night meetings because they work at night, can’t get childcare or can’t drive at night.

“We ignore their needs by not having any meetings during the day,” he said.

Commissioner Pam Hemminger said she was more open to daytime sessions now that videos of county commissioner meetings are available on the county website.

“It takes the burden off of (the public) not being able to attend,” Hemminger said, addressing the concern that some residents work during the day and can’t make the meetings.

Meetings have been streamed online since February 2010, and Chief Information Officer Todd Jones said they have had significant web traffic.

The board decided daytime meetings will only be held if all commissioners can attend, in response to Commissioner Valerie Foushee’s concern that daytime meetings would interfere with work.

“We don’t want to make it look like you have to be independently wealthy to hold office,” she said.

The county clerk will poll commissioners on their schedule to determine the dates of the daytime work sessions.

Council members also listened to a report delivered by Jones and Orange County Manager Frank Clifton, who summarized accomplishments made by the Information Technologies Department in 2009 and 2010.

Jones said the department updated the county website in August 2010 to make it compatible with multiple internet browsers and smart phones.

The county also developed a more hack-proof data center and created a new website for the Geographic Information Systems, a mapping system available to the public.

Commissioners also chose which boards and commissions they will serve on this year.

Contact the City Editor at city@dailytarheel.com.

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