Towns weigh streaming options for public meetings
In some communities, the public is invited to participate in town meetings virtually — in others, not so much. View the full list below.
Stonington Town Hall. Photo courtesy of the Town of Stonington.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to properly reflect the meetings that Stonington makes available online. Please see chart below.
April 1, 2026
By Jessica Hardy
STONINGTON - As Stonington officials mull residents’ requests for town select board meetings to be live-streamed, the issue across the Blue Hill Peninsula shows a mixed bag in terms of using technology to inform the public.
Overall, Peninsula towns have been slow to adopt technology that would allow residents to join public meetings virtually. The issue came to the forefront after the Stonington select board voted unanimously on March 16 to delay any immediate decision on virtual meetings until the town can gather more information.
Only about a third of Peninsula towns offer online select board meetings, and 27 percent stream their planning board meetings. Only two towns stream their school board meetings. Four towns–Brooklin, Brooksville, Penobscot and Surry–stream none of their meetings.
Bucksport, with its own YouTube channel, has embraced the practice, streaming all of its major board meetings, including town council, school board, planning board and economic development committee.
Deer Isle Town Office. Photo by Jessica Hardy
Next door to Stonington, residents of Deer Isle may request a link to view select board meetings online with a 24 hour advance request to the town manager. Castine broadcasts its select board meetings on YouTube and offers a Zoom link, also upon request.
Sedgwick select board meetings are currently online and, at the same time, have seen an increase in people attending the meetings in person at town hall.
“People seem so interested now,” said Susan Ford, chair of Sedgwick’s select board chair. “We’ve actually got people coming into the office now, which we never did before. It’s growing. We’re getting more people [logging on]. It’s good for the town, it's good for other people to listen to other areas.”
Sedgwick town clerk Lyndsey Dow agreed that there is an uptick in in-person participation, even with the use of new technology to allow virtual attendance by residents.
“It’s steadily becoming more. I’ve also been sending out emails to people letting them know of things that are coming up. So there’s been a sparking interest in people wanting to know what we’re doing at the meetings,” Dow said.
Susan Ford, Chair of the Sedgwick select board. Photo courtesy of Susan Ford.
Meanwhile, other towns such as Brooksville are in the process of adopting potential virtual meetings to help when their selectboards are unable to attend their monthly meeting in person, although that would not mean the public can join via video.
“We are working on a policy,” said Amber Bakeman, the town clerk of Brooksville.
In Stonington, the issue of online streaming services was brought to the board during their March 16 meeting and was tabled by a vote of 5-0.
“Let's get off our butts, out of our houses, and re-gather in the world,” Stonington economic development director Linda Louise Nelson wrote in a social media post on streaming, saying that it is better for people to grapple with town challenges face to face.
Proponents say video creates more town awareness. But opponents argue that the ease of online access will prevent people from showing up in-person, and will add costs to town budgets that are already tight. In Stonington, two local residents have offered to help pay for the installation and first-year costs of streaming.
Genevieve McDonald, co-chair of the Deer Isle-Stonington school board said she wants to provide real-time access to residents. While the school board’s regular meetings are livestreamed and recorded, they do not accept public comment virtually.
“The school board strives to balance public access with effective meeting operations,” McDonald said.
Eric Howe, interim chair of the Sedgwick School Board said board members are aware of a desire to live-stream meetings and are working on a plan.
“We will need to consider logistics of potential online viewing in addition to any legal ramifications, plus it would be important to solicit public opinion on whether or not there is a general consensus about a desire to have meetings made electronically available,” Howe said in an email to The Rising Tide.
Which towns stream their meetings? Here’s the run-down in our area:
Correction: This chart has been updated to reflect that Stonington streams its planning board and some other meetings, such as its economic development committee meetings. We apologize for the error.
