ALBANY COUNTY — About $80,000 of the nearly $32 million Albany County received in federal pandemic funds, through the American Rescue Plan Act, will be used to upgrade transmission of the county legislature’s meetings.

Legislators voted unanimously on Dec. 16 to spend $150,000 for the upgrades.

“We really want people to either attend or watch our meetings from home,” said Legislator Mark Grimm, a Republican from Guilderland, in a press release from the Minority Conference. “Yet the poor quality and audio of the meetings is a turn-off to people who’d like to follow us.”

In 2018, Grimm and Lynne Lekakis, a Democrat from Albany, co-sponsored legislation to make  member voting records available electronically as soon as possible after floor votes. 

This past January, Grimm wrote to Chairwoman Joanne Cunningham, saying iPads for legislators had been “a tremendous advance” but also commenting on the poor audio quality of videos recording the meetings of the legislature and its committees.

“The most logical solution to these problems,” Grimm wrote, “would be to place a microphone at the desks of every legislator, as is the case at the Chair’s desk, and in the State Legislature and numerous county legislatures across New York.”

“I’m glad the full legislature took this step forward and I will continue to press hard for more needed improvements that enhance transparency for all,” Grimm said in this week’s release.