Wall to shield public from inadvertent views by camera

Partition to rise in front of first row in Board of Supervisors chambers

Riverside County will be putting a wall between the public and the Board of Supervisors for reasons beyond public safety.

Supervisor Kevin Jeffries asked during a Tuesday budget workshop for money to install a wall or screen to shield the front row of seats inside the board chambers at the County Administrative Center in downtown Riverside.

Jeffries said his staff told him that the wall-mounted camera behind the board dais, which is trained on the speaker's podium during public meeting livestreams, can inadvertently show revealing footage of people in the front row who are wearing shorts or short dresses. The front row is behind the podium.

“We (the board) generally do not see what is being broadcast because most of the time our monitors at the dais are displaying the agenda item being considered,” Jeffries said via email.

“To my knowledge, we have not had any recent concerning moments. I just want to make sure that we won't have any going forward.”

It's unclear how long this has been an issue. Jeffries said he's mentioned the need for a wall “a few times in the past year.”

It's also unclear how long the wall-mounted camera has been in the board chambers, but it was there long before the coronavirus pandemic.

County spokesperson Brooke Federico said via email that the board chambers are due for an update that will include a partition wall, changes to the podium and desks used by staff and upgraded audience monitors.

The county is still getting estimates for the cost of the upgrades, she said.