Debate persists on televised Houlton meetings

HOULTON – The Town Council’s debate over whether to broadcast more municipal board meetings on the local public access channel has played out like a miniseries for more than a month, and the sluggishness of the proceedings frustrated one member Monday evening.

Councilor Carl Lord made an amendment to the council agenda during the hour-long meeting, introducing a proposal that would require televised broadcasts of all board and committee meetings held on town property.

The motion also would require all meetings to be held in the Town Council chambers and obligate each group to provide someone to turn the cameras on and off at each gathering.

The amendment came after more than a month of inactivity on the issue by the council. Although the group has discussed the idea and heard comments from the public several times, it has never proceeded with any action.

When Lord again found the topic listed for discussion on the agenda Monday night, he offered the amendment.

Lord was the councilor who first suggested that the town broadcast more of its meetings. At this point, the town telecasts only regular and special council meetings.

Under the recently introduced proposal, the public could watch planning board, zoning board and a host of other meetings from their homes.

While none of the councilors spoke out entirely against the idea, many felt that some board and committee meetings did not need to be televised.

Councilor Paul Romanelli said that he was in favor of putting some committee meetings on television, but felt the group should pare the list so as not to bore the public with excessive meeting coverage.

Councilor Michael Blanchard agreed, saying the group needed to “whittle down the list [of meetings] to a workable number.”

Lord maintained that the additional broadcasts would easily promote a more open government. He added that televising extra meetings would give residents, especially those who are elderly or infirm, a greater opportunity to see their town government at work.

Councilor Phil Bernaiche agreed, saying residents deserve to know how their tax dollars are being spent.

Sue Tortello, who has spoken out against the additional broadcasts at past meetings, held firm to her stance Monday evening. A member of the planning board, she said that she felt it would be harder for groups to recruit and retain members if meetings were televised.

She added that the move would not allow everyone in town to see their government at work.

“Not everyone in Houlton has cable, so when you try to open it up to everyone, you are still missing some people,” Tortello said.

Now that Lord has introduced the proposal, it will be scheduled for a first reading and a public hearing.

On Monday night, he challenged the notion that putting too many meetings on television would bore residents.

“Just change the channel if you don’t want to watch it,” he said.