The first-floor chambers at 1000 Lindsay St., where the Chattanooga City Council holds its weekly meetings, will soon see some physical improvements and upgrades to audio and visual equipment.
Ellis Smith, the director of special projects for Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly, said by phone last week that officials noticed during the pandemic that there were deficiencies in the city’s streaming equipment. The low-resolution cameras made it difficult for viewers to identify speakers, and the stream would occasionally cut out.
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The city has been working with its vendor, Smart Systems, to secure better equipment and broadcast capabilities for the chamber.
“In essence, if we do our job right, it should look a lot more like C-SPAN and a lot less like early 2000s circa YouTube,” Smith said Tuesday. “I think that’s really where we’re headed is trying to provide a better experience for people who want to participate in government but they sometimes can’t hear how people are voting because of the way the microphones function.”