Government
In The Sunshine
In
1969, the State of Florida adopted a new constitution. This was part of
a growing trend in Florida and around the country to protect individual
privacy rights while at the same time ensuring that public meetings and
sessions were indeed open to the public. The "Government in the Sunshine"
law passed November 1976, mandated all governmental agencies within the
state make all of their meetings, briefings, hearings, etc...open to the
public. In addition, efforts were mandated to provide access to the meetings
through the airwaves.
The
Thirsty State
With a rapidly
growing population, water is one of Florida's most precious resources.
In order to ensure that the population would have plenty of fresh water
and try to prevent salt water incursion into the drinking water supply,
the state of Florida formed Water Management Districts in 1973.
The Districts control new growth, regulate usage and manage the water
in Florida. The largest of these districts is the South Florida Water
Management District (WMD). South Florida WMD covers all or part of sixteen
of Florida's 67 counties and regulates the water resources that supply
The Florida Keys, Miami, Ft Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and north to Southern
Orlando. The South Florida WMD also includes Lake Okechobee (Florida's
largest lake), the Everglades National Park and the origins of the St.
John's River.
Design
Working with
consultant, Robert Holley of Arts Environments, Inc., Tequesta, Florida,
General Projection Systems installed a complete presentation and production
system for the new building and auditorium.
Presenters have control of a variety of devices from the podium including
slide to video conversion, VHS, Umatic and Broadcast Betacam VTR's, analog
and digital cassette systems, CDs, still video, scanned video and a video
light table. A Grass Valley production router sends these images to two
large Sony multi-sync video projectors and ten 13" Mitsubishi multi-sync
video monitors build into the commission dais for commissioner viewing.
In addition, the signal feeds into a Blonder Tongue CATV subsystem serving
both the new large complex and the preexisting District buildings.
A computer controlled audio system completes the presentation system.
Twenty-five Commission and staff microphone - speaker stations allow each
commissioner to listen to audio programs, presenters and speakers. Vega
wireless microphones are also part of this system, as well as a Telex
wireless assistive listening system for the hearing impaired.
A multi-station
intercom is part of the production system. This allows camera operators
and production staff to communicate during the commission meetings, which
are broadcast live for South Florida cablevision. In addition to the two
person controlled camera positions, there are two Telemetrics robotic
camera subsystems in the chambers for remote operator control.
A production switcher completes the suite. This switcher is used for special
effect transitions during presentations, video production and broadcasts.
The production system controls input from two person-operated and
two robotic controlled cameras, microphones, various input devices and
prepares the output for cable broadcast.
Adding the
variable of broadcast to commission meetings opened a whole realm of considerations.
Acoustics and lighting became a major concern to the staff in the WMD.
It would do no good to broadcast the meetings if the viewers could not
see or hear what was going on.
To ensure that 100% of the meeting was broadcast ready, the consultant
designed a complete studio lighting system and an acoustic system. Now,
all the residents in the South Florida Water Management District's area
can view the meetings on public access cable.
Design Opportunities
As public demand for cable television access to governmental meetings and hearings increases, many more agencies around the country will be adding these technologies to their presentation systems. The missing link between government presentation systems and public cable is the consultant. General Projection Systems has found this in a number of commission chamber installations. Because this is new to many of the commission staff, the need for professional expertise is prevalent.
For more information on council chamber projects and the design of government facilities, please contact us using the Information Request form or by emailing Solutions@genproj.com