CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A request to purchase just over $300,000 worth of camera production equipment ended up getting pulled from the agenda before Tuesday's city council meeting.
Still, residents spoke up during public comment about what appeared to be costly purchases during a time city leaders were trying to find ways to trim the City's capital budget.
The City said the request is based on needed upgrades to replace outdated production equipment in order to reach the community.
However, it was the price tag and the type of a video camera used to film big budget movies that had both community members and city council members asking questions. It ultimately led to the item's removal from the agenda.
"Why does the city need to buy a 'Guardians of the Galaxy' quality RED Raptor 8K video camera in order to do productions here in the city," resident Jason Page asked council. "For that same amount of $40,000 we could buy a few more of the cameras they use every single day."
Page went in front of city council to bring attention to the list of what appeared to be pricey items being requested by the multimedia division of the City's communications department.
The list including various studio camera and editing equipment, including that $34,250 cinema camera with a starter pack, four carbon fiber tripod system totaling $13,596 and seven office/editing chairs totaling $14,980.
"That's what we need to find out, we need to find out exactly what this is costing us, this is red flags all went up and I'm glad it got pulled," councilmember Sylvia Campos said.
"It's not like you just go to Walmart and find this equipment off the shelf," councilmember Gil Hernandez said. "What type of equipment should be used, what should that cost, are we getting something too robust or not for our needs?"
3NEWS spoke with Assistant Director of Communications Cecilia Orozco about the list of items they hope will enhance their production quality and community engagement.
"We did see those questions from the public, the chairs and some equipment," she said "The list that was provided on the council agenda was actually just a price sheet, so not necessarily the final purchase sheet which we are going to come back and provide."
Orozco also explained that the money requested would not come from the general fund, meaning it wouldn't be taxpayer dollars, but rather what's called PEG Cable funds.
"PEG funds are public educational and governmental funds, these funds are made up of one percent franchise fee that gets charged to all cable providers, your Grande, Spectrum, they pay into this PEG fund in term these PEG funds," she said.
It's money she said can only be used on infrastructure improvements and equipment related to their public access channel.
She said none of the PEG funds can be used on personnel.
"Just to provide clarity the chairs are not going to be on there, will not be on there in the future," Orozco said.
When it comes to that cinema style camera used in big budget movies, "what might work best for you or one photographer, might not be the best tool for another, and yes, I think it's important for our team to have high quality products in something that is going to last a long time, and not have to come back to council in two years," she said.
Changes will be made to the presentation and the item will be brought back in front of city council.