Commissioners vote to discontinue video tours on the county's website

Whitman County Commissioners Monday voted 2-1 to not extend a contract for CGI services for a video tour for the county's website. The contract had been with CGI Communications out of Rochester, N.Y.

When the matter came to the table, Commissioner Dean Kinzer moved to continue the contract, and Commissioner Michael Largent seconded the motion.

“Is it worth having the videos on the website that are created?” Commissioner Art Swannack asked once the motion was on the floor.

Clerk of the Board Maribeth Becker weighed in on the matter:

“I think our webpage would suck without this video,” she said. “Have you looked at our webpage? It's boring. This video would give it some life. It just gives us a little something. It adds a little interest.”

“We all know the webpage is old and outdated,” Swannack commented.

The county's IT department informed the commissioners previously that the videos have approximately 11,000 hits, but it is unknown if those hits were people who watched the full length of the videos or just one or two seconds.

“I didn't know what value we're getting out of that,” said Swannack.

The series has eight videos, including welcome, quality of life, real estate and relocation, education, business and industry, healthcare and senior services, recreation and things to do and community organizations. The videos range from 41 seconds to two minutes, eight seconds.

In addition to the discussion of video hits, the commissioners also discussed CGI Communication's interaction with local businesses.

“It's a company that comes in, and they solicit businesses all over the county to contribute because that's how they make their money,” said Commissioner Kinzer. “They're bothering a lot of businesses that we don't want them bothering.”

In the end, the commissioners decided the videos do not attract enough attention and it is not in the best interests of the county to continue the contract.

When Commissioner Swannack called for a vote, Commissioner Kinzer voted in favor of continuing the contract, and then Commissioner Largent, despite seconding the motion earlier, voted against it. That left Commissioner Swannack to break the tie, and after a brief pause, he voted against it.

After the vote, the commissioners clarified that a motion does not constitute a vote. The motion maker and the person who seconds it can vote against it.

“You're just bringing the issue to the floor with a motion,” said Commissioner Kinzer.

The videos will be taken down from the website soon. Commissioner Kinzer said they now want to focus on redesigning the website and making it more user-friendly and attractive.