Not one member of the public showed up to the May 11 Parks, Arts, and Recreation Commission meeting when the staff was expected give update on the feasibility of broadcasting future PARC meetings.

The question of transparency was brought up by Commissioner Jeremy Rocha when he asked if PARC could broadcast their meetings via cable television, just like Turlock City Council’s meetings.

At las week's meeting, Erik Schulze, Turlock Parks, Recreation and Public Facilities Supervisor, said that he has sent a request to the City’s IT department and PARC meetings should be broadcast in the next couple of months.

However, it is not simply a request that is needed to broadcast PARC meetings: there is a cost that comes with it.

There would be no issue with obtaining the airwaves, Turlock Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities Director Allison Van Guilder previously said. California State University, Stanislaus, which operates the local access channel, has airtime available.

The cost would come in the form of paying an IT technician to operate the videography equipment during the meetings. The cost would be roughly $1,500 for the year, assuming each meeting is two hours long.

"To me, that seems like a good investment for transparency," Rocha said.

Not all on PARC share Rocha’s sentiment, however. Commissioner Brent Bohlender believes that it would be a waste of money to broadcast the meetings.

“I just don’t think we should be spending money on this,” Bohlender said.

To fight the costs of paying a technician, Rocha has floated the possibility of finding an intern from California State University, Stanislaus to operate the equipment at no cost.