Officials in Rancho Santa Margarita continue to resist adding a video livestreaming option for city council meetings — one of the last Orange County cities that only offers audio for the public to tune in from home.

Newly-elected Rancho Santa Margarita Councilmember Keri Lynn Baert brought forth a motion to investigate the budget costs and options for adding video livestreaming at the March 12 meeting.

However, none of her colleagues supported the motion, ending the discussion.

“There is not the interest from my fellow council members in pursuing video streaming,” Baert said in a March 14 phone interview, “or there doesn’t appear to be since they did not second the motion.”

Of the 34 cities in Orange County, Rancho Santa Margarita and La Palma provide audio-only access to their council meetings. Every other city in the county offers video livestreaming with playback.

In a 2023 investigation by Chapman University journalism students working with Voice of OC, La Palma and Rancho Santa Margarita received “D” grades for their limited public access. All other cities received an “A” or “B.”

The absence of video streaming during public meetings in cities like Rancho Santa Margarita and La Palma has led state legislators to consider a bill that would require mandating such access.

California Senator María Elena Durazo has proposed legislation — dubbed SB 707 — that would mandate livestreaming of all city council and county supervisors meetings, among others.

“I introduced SB 707 to make city and county meetings more accessible and transparent, ensuring all residents — regardless of location, language barriers, or mobility challenges — can participate remotely,” Durazo wrote in a statement sent to Voice of OC.

She added that allowing residents to watch open meetings from home strengthens trust, accountability and civic engagement with elected officials.

“I urge all boards to expand participation — every resident deserves easy access to discussions and decisions on critical issues like housing, jobs, and infrastructure,” she wrote.

“Government must serve everyone — not just those who can attend in person.”

Meanwhile, Rancho Santa Margarita residents are calling on council members to add a video option for public meetings to increase transparency and allow residents to watch from home if they can’t attend the meeting in person.

“I’ve tried to listen to the audio recordings, and it’s next to impossible to tell what’s going on,” Rancho Santa Margarita resident Jaclyn Martin said in a March 26 interview.

Councilmember Baert was elected in December to represent the city council’s District 3 seat. She replaced long-time councilmember Carol Gamble, who suspended her campaign after pleading guilty to falsifying nomination paperwork .

Baert said she first learned that her city is one of two in Orange County that offers meeting audio after reading Voice of OC’s coverage .

“I have heard directly from people who are citizens of Rancho Santa Margarita who would like to see video streaming,” Baert said in a follow-up phone interview on April 10.

“When I was running for office, I went door to door, and this is one of the things that I talked about with residents of the city. Many were surprised that it was not already being done.”

Other council members disagreed.

Mayor Anthony Beall, who has been on the council since 2004, said that audio recordings and e-comment submissions have served residents “very effectively.”

In an interview after the March 26 city council meeting, he said that he has not spoken to residents interested in implementing video livestreaming.

“I think that the lack of a second in our last meeting to looking into it further would suggest that my council colleagues are also in the same background, and they would be hesitant to do so because the pros would not outweigh the cons,” he said.

In a March 13 phone interview, Councilmember Jerry Holloway said the lack of public interest was one of the reasons the council has not implemented video recordings.

“No one has ever approached me about livestreaming city council meetings. I hadn’t thought of the subject until I got the emails,” he said, referencing emails sent by Chapman University students working with Voice of OC.

Councilmember Holloway also said the demand for video livestreaming didn’t justify the high cost in Rancho Santa Margarita.

Cities across Orange County pay a range of prices to video livestream city council meetings on different platforms.

Neighboring Aliso Viejo spends over $13,000 yearly to video livestream their meetings on Granicus, according to City Clerk Janet Martinez.

In Placentia, the city spends about $40,000 annually to livestream council meeting videos, also on Granicus, according to Communications and Marketing Manager Nicolette Drulias.

The City of Brea spends just over $3,600 each year to livestream meetings using the Cablecast Reflect Plus system, according to city spokesperson Liz Pharis.

In La Palma , the council’s May 6 agenda included a list of 2025 goals — one of which mentioned “exploring expansion of the City’s YouTube channel for streaming meetings and events.”

While the council unanimously approved the list of goals, there was no discussion about livestreaming meetings.

Rancho Santa Margarita Residents Ask For Video Livestreaming

Audio-only council meetings can make it more difficult for residents to engage from home, especially for the elderly, people who are hard of hearing, residents with disabilities or caregivers.

Some residents said they feel like they’re being left in the dark due to a lack of city council transparency.

Rancho Santa Margarita resident Martin attended a city council meeting on March 26. In an interview during the meeting, she said the city’s refusal to implement video livestreaming creates challenges.

“I raised three kids here, so there were nights when I was home with kids doing homework, and I would like to know what was going on, but I had to physically show up,” Martin said.

Kristi Anne Acuña, a Rancho Santa Margarita resident, said that it is the city council’s “job and duty” to implement video streaming.

“We need change, and we need people that are going to represent our voice, because that’s not what’s happening now,” Acuña said in a May 8 phone interview.

“They’re not representing our voice. They’re ignoring it, and they’re not televising it. So we have to change that. And the only way to change it is to speak up.”

Jackson Smith, a 22-year-old resident who attended a council meeting on April 23, said having a video livestream would be helpful for residents of varying ages.

“I think that this is something that’s important for our city, especially for my age group, who are rather disenfranchised most of the time,” Smith said in an interview after the meeting.

Some residents have been voicing concerns for years.

Shawn Gordon, a Rancho Santa Margarita resident, said he wished the city livestreamed video so he could see the staff’s presentation during each meeting.

“People would like to see the presentations that are happening at both the city council as well as the planning commission meetings that they are unable to attend,” Gordon said in a 2022 e-comment.

Martin said that the council’s refusal to give Baert the second for her motion in March was “rude and dismissive.”

“I would say that it is just another piece of the city council’s apparent lack of interest in providing more transparency for our residents,” Martin said, “and it makes me definitely wonder what it is they’re hiding.”

Engaging With Public Meetings From Home

Although there is no legal requirement to livestream public meeting video, most cities provide the option to help residents follow along with city business without having to attend in person.

Baert said she made the motion to add video livestreaming to increase transparency, especially after recent controversy between the city and its local branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Capistrano Valley.

The club is officially leaving Rancho Santa Margarita this summer after city leaders and the group failed to reach a contract agreement. It also came after Beall accused the Boys & Girls Clubs of politically indoctrinating children with ideas relating to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Baert emphasized that having a video stream would have helped residents engage with those discussions from home, like seeing the councilmembers’ body language as they discussed.

“Even when you’re not commenting on something, your body language is indicating how you feel about an issue,” she said in a phone interview on April 21.

When approached for comment on this story, Councilmember Bradley McGirr said he had “no comment on livestreaming” and that he “does not have an opinion” on the issue.

Councilmember Anne Figueroa did not respond to requests for comment regarding livestreaming city council meeting video and declined to answer questions about the topic in person.

While Rancho Santa Margarita officials resist, other government agencies have updated their platforms to add a video livestreaming option for residents to use.

Following years of student reporting on video livestreaming in partnership with Voice of OC, the City of Laguna Woods and the Orange County Transportation Agency began video livestreaming their meetings last year.

The Garden Grove Unified School District also moved to livestream their meetings in March, joining the majority of school districts that provide a livestream.

Angelina Hicks is the Voice of OC Collegiate News Service Editor. Contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.