Residents believed members of the Beaufort County, SC, (pop. 175,852) government were making “back room” deals. This perception created a severe lack of public confidence and threatened to bring chaos to the county government, its officials, and residents.

The problem largely stemmed from the impact of a 40 percent population increase, which greatly strained public services. Schools were overcrowded. Roadways were congested and unsafe. Development threatened to encroach upon a valuable military installation. Libraries were short of books. The jail, ambulance, police, and fire services were stretched to the limit. As a result, county government became a target for negative press and confidence plummeted.

The county council determined that keeping the public informed would be critical to addressing the problem, and tasked their new county administrator, Gary Kubic, with achieving transparency in government.

Kubic took a significant step toward full transparency with the development of an unusual county television channel.

This is no run-of-the mill public access channel.

Beaufort County is composed of a series of islands, which creates an access problem for many citizens, especially for those who must travel by ferry to attend a meeting.

Beaufort’s channel has a unique feature that sets it apart from other government channels: it provides connectivity in remote locations to allow citizens the opportunity to participate in public comment sessions.

The channel is carried on all cable systems within the county and streamed online at the county website. It broadcasts all regular meetings of the county council, including committee meetings, meetings of boards and commissions, and school board meetings.

Coverage on the channel is not limited to county government proceedings. It also broadcasts documentaries, and informational pieces regarding county projects and services, important community events, talk shows, programs on the local environment, local history, and county-sponsored youth sporting events. Kubic serves as the channel’s executive producer.

The channel recently received four international Telly Awards for its educational nature series, Coastal Kingdom, produced in partnership with ecologists at the non-profit LowCountry lnstitute. The channel also received one international Telly for a feature documentary on Concours D’ Elegance—a charity fundraiser on Hilton Head Island, and was nominated for an Emmy.

Kubic brought transparency to the county’s government in other ways as well, such as:

• digitizing county documents, including meeting minutes, ordinances, archives, and financial reports, and posting them online
• creating a new website with a searchable database.
• reorganizing the county finance department to provide more timely delivery of financial documents and changing the reporting format so that more people could understand the data, which also improved the county’s bond rating.

These efforts opened up the county government to residents in a way that allowed them to see how decisions were being made—out in the open and in an ethical manner. Full transparency, along with improved service delivery under Kubic’s management, helped public confidence soar in county government and the council.