As I announce last month, the It's Your Town newsletter was going to be changing. It's author Don Watson, had decided that it was time to stop writing about what goes on at Township Committee meetings each month and start showing residents what actually happens during Township Committee meetings.
Mr. Watson has announced he will no longer be presenting the newsletter in its current form recapping Middletown Township Committee meetings as he has done for the past few years. Instead however, it is with great delight that he now will present video recordings of the Middletown Township Committee meetings
Below is the first video which he recorded held on Monday, February 6, 2012.
"... It was an impressive meeting to launch the first recording. The Middletown Swim and Tennis Club community showed up to make their case for keeping the club off the auction block. The mayor thanked the past president of the library board, Randall Gabrielan, for his years of service. This of course was after the mayor asked for Mr. Gabrielan’s resignation the previous week. Also, something that rarely happens, the Committee voted on each new resolution individually.", Mr. Watson stated in an email announcing the format change to subscribers of his newsletter.
It is hoped that this video starts a new era in Middletown, an era of transparency. This first recording shows what really goes on at Middletown Township Committee meetings. If readers of this blog take the time to watch this video and any videos that come later they will see and hear how our Township Committee deals with its citizens.
"... Current and previous Middletown Committees said the people who want meetings recorded have a political agenda. They said recording the meetings would cost too much. They said giving the public video access would allow them to grandstand. You decide if videotaping the meetings is worthwhile..., Finally, I want to extend my personal thank you to the many concerned citizens who made this recording possible with their support. By uniting we triumphed over those who said it couldn’t be done. Many thanks. And as always, thank you all for taking an interest in your local government.", stated Watson.
Don Watson will be offering the Township Committee a copy of this recording with the hope that they will post it on our Township’s public television access stations.
The video runs over two and a half hours, the first few minutes of the video you will hear a lot of noise. There are no guns being fired. It is a malfunction of the sound system.
As a companion to the video Mr. Watson has put together a PDF document that contains the meeting agenda and the resolutions that were voted on during the meeting. A box around an item is a link, bringing you further into the document to that resolution or ordinance. At the end of the resolution there will be a link bringing you back to the agenda. It is a little easier to follow along when you can see what is being voted on.
While watching the video pay attention to who speaks and who doesn't speak from the dais, Township Attorney Brian Nelson is sitting next to mayor Tony Fiore. Nelson is an appointed official, not an elected official, yet he speaks as if he is!
It should be pointed out that although Nelson isn't an elected official, he is a high ranking member of the Middletown GOP who makes a living off the taxpayers of the Township.
Watch closely for the arrogance and distain he shows for those that stand in front of the Committee. He rolls his eyes, laughs and snickers at the very residents that he makes his living off of.
7 comments:
What a pleasure it was to watch the TC meeting from the comfort of my home over a cup of coffee this morning. Due to an illness I was not able to attend the meeting on the evening it was held.
Fantastic job Mr. Watson.
Since the TC in the past has been so objective about televising the TC meetings, I for one would be curious to know the details of the first production.
Was it difficult? Time consuming?
Expensive?
I'll be looking forward to viewing more of them.
Congratulations on your first production of the video of the TC meetings.
Well done.
Anon 9:21,
From what I have been told, Mr. Watson purchased the camera with his own funds and donated funds from a few friendse that subscribe to his newsletter. The camera I believe cost a few hundred dollars.
As for difficulty, Mr. Watson set the camera up in the back of the room and pressed record. That was it!
I also understand that due to being a novice video producer along with the huge file size of the video, it took a few tries getting it posted to a third party server. Once it was suggested to him that YouTube would host the file with a "special" members code, he was able to post it for our viewing.
Videos of TC meetings after this one will be much easier to post now and will be available in a more timely manner in the future
Is it possible to improve the audio?
Anon 1:44
I don't know, I'll pass along your concern.
Great job on the first clip of the TC meeting.
All business meetings in the town should be televised for public viewing.
And, I didn't notice any "grandstanding" from anyone from the public who was in attendance at this meeting.
What I did see was concerned citizens seeking help and assistance from the TC apparently after they'd already closed the barn door quite some time ago.
The TC should have reached out to the public sooner, much sooner. As I said in an earlier post this swim club group seems to be determined and more than willing to do whatever it takes, however they weren't given adequate notice of the dire situation. Perhaps they could have made a difference without the burden on the backs of all taxpayers. They certainly aren't lacking ideas.
I wish them all well.
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