Planning commission votes to meet off-camera

At last Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting, Saratoga resident David Worthington was asked not to film the meeting.

Worthington said he has been filming airport board and town council meetings for over a year, when he attends the meetings.

The Commission voted against allowing him to film the meeting, Worthington said.

“I said as long as I’m not disruptive, I can video (the meeting), but out of courtesy I turned (the camera) off,” Worthington said in an interview yesterday.

Board member Randy Raymer said he would resign himself from the meeting if it was to be filmed.

“I don’t care to be filmed and it may or may not be legal to be filmed,” Raymer said in an interview Friday.

Worthington said he has been filming meetings to create an accurate and clear record and a future reference for his own records and intends to film the next Planning Commission meeting in February.

Mayor John Zeiger said it doesn’t bother him when Worthington films the town council meetings.

“Years and years ago when they had a TV station here, they did that,” Zeiger said. “We as a council are going to look into the cost of purchasing video equipment so we can video our meetings.”

Casper city councilman Keith Goodenough said Casper’s city council and planning commission’s main sessions are filmed and televised and workshop sessions are recorded on audio.

There is no state law allowing or disallowing the public to film public meetings.

“Laws by their nature are supposed to outline what you can’t do - there is no law that says an individual can’t film or record any public meeting,” Jim Angell, executive director of the Wyoming Press Association, said.

But if an individual is disruptive they can be removed from the meeting and that is law, Angell said.