In a move that heralds a new era of greater citizen access to government, the Forest Park City Council, the Downtown Development Authority, the Development Authority, and the Urban Redevelopment Authority have voted to install a professional, state-of-the-art audiovisual system that should allow residents to watch and hear council proceedings clearly.
The move comes following months of negotiations with The Clayton Crescent’s legal representatives over the city’s repeated violations of Georgia’s Open Meetings Act during the city’s COVID-19 emergency.
The University of Georgia Law First Amendment Clinic, along with media attorney S. Derek Bauer and the nonprofit Georgia First Amendment Foundation, brought pressure upon the city to provide clear, reliable audio and video livestreams for citizens to be able to observe meetings of the city council and other governing bodies.
Read letters from the UGA First Amendment Clinic to the City of Forest Park here.
The controversy eventually drew national attention in The Washington Post.