I apologize for the rather low camera angle.
My camera tripod bit the dust during the pre-meeting conference, and I had about three minutes to rig something up before the meeting actually started.
After filming something like 40 meetings in the last year, I guess it’s time for an upgrade.
By the way, we’re wondering why a flatscreen monitor was conveniently stuck right at the end of the dais? Whose idea was that to pile unused computer equipment there? Was that an attempt to partially obscure our view?
As a matter of common courtesy, I don’t like shoving the camera in anyone’s face, so I usually film from about the third row.
However, if that monitor is still in our way at the next meeting, I’ll be moving the camera much closer to the dais.
By the way, if I sound a little perturbed, it’s not just because of the Council’s rather underwhelming response to our proposal Jeff spoke about. We were fully expecting that. We’ve been getting evasive behavior on this topic for over a year now.
There was also the Mayor’s decision to exclude citizens from the next committee he said he would form on the subject of recording meetings. So if I’m understanding this correctly, after the Council has already clearly indicated twice that they don’t want to broadcast meetings for residents, they’re going to convene a third committee….made up exclusively of the very same people who already said no?
Thank you, but we don’t need a committee to decide that this needs to happen, and we certainly don’t need that committee to be comprised solely of councilpersons who don’t want it to happen in the first place. We know a stall tactic when we see one.
More personally insulting for me was also the Mayor’s remark at 23:20 minutes where he pointed to me standing behind my camera and said, “I mean, we’re saving money….we’re getting it done for nothing!”.
Not funny, Mayor Kimble.
Doing this in Belleville over the last year has been at tremendous personal sacrifice not only for myself, but for Jeff as well. Any community advocacy requires a sacrifice, and often a big one.
Even just attending public meetings, recording everything, processing and uploading the videos, then archiving them on a website is no small time investment. It’s practically a second job, all by itself. And that’s only part of what I’m doing with The Watch.
The Council is paid a substantial amount of money annually by Comcast and Verizon to provide public access programming to Belleville residents. It sure as heck is not “free” for me to be providing this service for their own township.
At the end of the day, I realize the Mayor’s comment was intended as a joke, but I didn’t find it the least bit funny. Not at all.
There is nothing more critical in municipal politics than making a good faith effort to be open and transparent with your constituents. Squander that at your own peril.
It’s time to do the right thing, Belleville Council. In fact, at this point, it’s beyond time.
~ Griff
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