On-air council sessions get good reviews

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It’s about 20 minutes into a selectmen’s meeting in Camden. The door swings open with a whoosh, and most of the heads turn to see who has come in.

The woman sits down quickly and unbuttons her coat. Moments later, she raises her hand, is recognized by the chairman, and strides to the podium at the front of the room.

Speaking into the microphone and turning her head slightly toward the television camera in the corner, she says, “I was watching at home and I just had to come down and tell you folks that I couldn’t disagree more …”

Such a scene – it actually happened last year in Camden – is occurring more and more, say town and city managers, in Maine communities that televise municipal meetings on government access cable TV stations. By most accounts, the airing of such meetings has been a shot in the arm to local government, raising awareness and interest, and creating a better-informed citizenry.

Last month, Bangor began televising its City Council meetings and plans to show some city committee meetings soon. Rockland has been broadcasting its council meetings since the late 1980s. Rockport has been televising its meetings for a few years, while Houlton has broadcast its council meetings for about a year. Lincolnville began late last year, and Ellsworth and Belfast expect to be on the air with council meetings sometime this year.

In Camden, selectmen’s meetings have been on TV since 1993, Town Manager Roger Moody said. The town was renegotiating its contract with the cable TV provider, with the help of a technology- savvy local committee. Committee members knew the Federal Communications Commission had created rules allowing towns to ask cable companies for public and government access stations, and that cable companies had to provide the equipment to get the access channels up and running.

“They certainly knew what was available both for technology and for access,” Moody said of the committee. The cable company wired the town’s conference room, the town-owned opera house and other town buildings so that events could be televised.

“I think it’s worked pretty well,” Moody said of putting the meetings on TV. “It’s certainly changed the tone of the meetings.” Before the advent of cameras, selectmen often would joke with reporters and others in the audience, “but not always in the best taste,” the manager said with a chuckle.

Now, meetings start promptly at 7 p.m. to accommodate the TV schedule, and the chairman insists that anyone from the public who wants to speak do so from the podium. Selectmen, the manager and the town attorney all have microphones at their desks.

Moody said the town has been able to find reliable high school students to operate the single camera at the meetings. The town pays the student $20 per meeting. The student sits against a wall, watching a monitor and swinging the camera on its tripod to take in whoever is speaking.

Moody and others are unable to know how many people in town actually tune in. “Nielsen’s got no concern about us,” he says jokingly, but he is certain that a significant number watch.

“When I’m on the street, people invariably stop me” to comment on something saw during a meeting. “If the audio isn’t coming through, with the [police] dispatch office right next door, people will call to say they can’t hear what’s being said,” Moody said, further evidence that people are watching.

“I think it has made a significant difference” in keeping residents informed about their local government. “It makes things a little more complicated on our end, but it’s a small price to pay,” he said.

While TV is often described as a passive medium, the direct broadcast of local democracy in action seems to engage people rather than distance them from government. Why this is so is open to interpretation.

Amy Fried, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Maine, who specializes in public opinion and media, believes TV can breathe life into local government in Maine – but maybe not everywhere.

She notes that the advent of C-SPAN and its live coverage of Congress did not necessarily improve Washington politics. Instead, elective officials “made strategic attempts to use the medium to embarrass people,” such as those in the other party, “rather than have it be a window,” Fried said.

But Maine, which in November had the second-highest percentage voter participation in the country, may make for different results. “It’s a state that has a tradition of involvement,” she said.

Hot-button issues such as the siting of a new Wal-Mart and a proposed methadone clinic in Bangor may draw large TV audiences for city council meetings, Fried said, while audiences may wane when more mundane matters dominate.

Moody said he was surprised when he sent a questionnaire to the members of other town committees in Camden to see whether they were interested in having their meetings broadcast. The answer was a resounding no, he said. Moody speculated that committees need to be more informal and could be inhibited by the presence of cameras.

Joanne Gula, Bangor’s community relations and marketing coordinator, is excited about the prospects for government TV. Gula has taught mass communications at the University of Maine and worked as a cable TV administrator. Well-versed in the technology, she talks enthusiastically about the three 360-degree cameras and the technology that allows names to appear on the screen.

Placing a video monitor near councilors’ desks was a mistake, though, because “they kept looking at themselves,” she said. Gula also joked about warning the officials “to be careful what you scratch and pick at” once the cameras are on.

Bangor council meetings are broadcast live on Monday nights, then replayed on Wednesday and Friday. Airing reruns is typical on government access channels, and may account for the strong connection with the public – giving people a chance to fit the program into their schedules.

Gula said councilors have been pleased with the broadcasts so far. “They really like it. They really want to get the message out.” She forecasts a large audience for tonight’s meeting, when a final report on the methadone clinic will be discussed.

Making government access work all comes down to volunteers, according to Dan Burgess of Knox TV in Rockland. A former banker, Burgess now leases a channel from the cable company for which he sells commercials, but he also spends time running the city’s channel.

Last week, he was teaching a new volunteer how to operate the video mixer board during a council meeting. Rockland uses three cameras to show councilors and speakers on the podium. Jean Chalmers, a former mayor and legislator, is often behind one of the cameras. The city manager has been known to grab a camera and aim it as well.

Burgess has high praise for government TV. He thinks there is great potential for other local programs, which could be produced on local issues such as recycling, the library or public safety. He is seeking more volunteers to help fill out the broadcast schedule.

“It’s worth its weight in gold,” he said, because people can see the decision-making for themselves, rather than rely on an account.

“In the old days, they had the cracker barrel and the potbellied stove,” around which residents would gather to learn about town affairs. ” Television is right in their living rooms,” Burgess said.