New Bern Now started covering local government in June 2021. At the time, we watched virtually due to COVID. There were inaudible volume levels and/or periods of no volume and buffering along with livestream feeds stopping in the middle of meetings. Wanting to hear what was happening, we decided to physically attend and record meetings at City Hall, in order to accurately report information to the public.
There have been times that we could not attend, so we watched live. Numerous citizens voiced their concerns about these issues, which still occur.
Wanting to learn more, we wrote to Colleen Roberts, the city’s public information officer (PIO). She conveyed, the Board of Aldermen (BOA) contracted with Swagit Productions, LLC, a Texas based company, to provide broadcasting services for the City of New Bern five years ago. According to their website from back then, Swagit “…specializes in providing hands-free video streaming and broadcast solutions to local, state and federal government agencies as well as other online entities…”
Roberts told us, that the contractor was paid $27,996 for broadcast services, or $2,333 per month in 2021. She also noted, “This year, an additional purchase order was created with Swagit for $10,500 for a special project to add Sound Search functionality to all historic meeting content on the city website.” Totally $38,496 for 2022.
NBN emailed the PIO on March 10, 2022, asking, “Was there an open bidding process?” She responded, “Per NC General Statute, a formal bidding process is not required for services.”
In email exchanges with NBN related to awarding a local contract, Roberts wrote:
“The City of New Bern…does not have authority to establish preferences in awarding contracts, such as preferences for local contractors...”
“Pursuant to the State’s retention schedule…the City no longer maintains public records regarding the vendors that were reviewed and evaluated.”
“City staff participated in several informal meetings to review and evaluate broadcast services by several vendors and rendered a decision in the best interest of the City.”
If the City didn’t have the authority to give preference for local contractors, why do they hire a local videographer or other area contractors? If the city no longer maintains records, how would she know that several vendors were considered?
If City 3 TV falls under the Administration Department, why wouldn’t they hire a local contractor to resolve these issues? When there are problems, the PIO works with Swagit to attempt to resolve them, but she is not an audio/video engineer or expert, and she spends the majority of the time in the courtroom.
During the renovation of the City Hall courtroom, the city contracted with Fuller’s Music. Roberts wrote, “The city paid Fuller’s approximately $16,000 to upgrade & expand audio & video features & technology to be used for City 3 TV as well as other meetings & events in the courtroom.” In 2021, the city paid $27,996 to Swagit and $16,000 to Fuller’s Music, totaling $43,996 for broadcasting services.
The Public Information Officer wrote, “The purpose of City 3 TV, our public, education and government (PEG) channel is to show government at work. City 3 TV is a public asset provided by Suddenlink Communications/Altice as partial compensation for its cable franchise. The channel exists on channel 3 for cable subscribers.”
In January 2021, members of the Board of Aldermen sought meetings with MetroNet, Inc. to bring fiber optic internet, TV, and phone services to New Bern, which at the time the public was told the services were comparable to Suddenlink’s. The entire board entered into an agreement with the provider in April 2021. What will happen to City 3 TV if people transfer services from Suddenlink to MetroNet?
What are your thoughts? Send us an email.
By Wendy Card, Editor