Hip hop has seen some weird collaborations over the years: Run DMC and Aerosmith; Eminem and Elton John; LL Cool J and Brad Paisley. But we at the Outpost never expected to hear the likes of Ryan Sundberg, Rex Bohn and Mark Lovelace dropping science over a sick beat.
Granted, the county supervisors didn’t take turns spitting lyrics in Rick Rubin’s studio; instead, the video above was assembled by the crew over at Access Humboldt, who took video samples from Humboldt County’s last two interactive community budget meetings and laid them over a hi-hat boom-bap from classic ‘90s hip hop.
The resulting alchemy is, well, kinda surreal. But pretty dope, by government budget meeting standards.
Perhaps it’s a fitting tribute, since the meetings themselves are both innovative and collaborative. Three years ago county officials launched what they believe to be a first-of-its-kind, live-streaming meeting, with community members and government officials gathering at five remote sites around the county to participate simultaneously via Google Hangouts.
As county officials put it in a recent news release, “This innovative, award-winning meeting gives members of the public an opportunity to weigh in on the county’s $300 million budget, no matter where they live in Humboldt County.” You can even Tweet your comments and questions via @HumCoGov.
This year’s tech-facilitated conversation, scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 26 at 5:30 p.m., is bound to include debate over Measure Z, the public safety/essential services measure passed by voters last November. Click on over to the county website to see where your supervisor will be posted. And start rehearsing your verse on general fund reserves, deferred maintenance and contingencies.