Must-see TV for open government

tv remoteMany defining local decisions are made by the 14-member Metropolitan Area Planning Commission, chaired by M.S. “Mitch” Mitchell. Yet few citizens can attend its Thursday afternoon meetings. So good for the city of Wichita for deciding to add the commission meetings to the schedule of the city’s cable Channel 7, starting at 9 p.m. Friday. Letting more people see what goes on at these meetings will serve open government, which is why Vice Mayor Sharon Fearey has sought the broadcasts. Now, can’t city officials find a better time slot?

4 Comments

  1. Jed
    Posted January 8, 2008 at 1:09 am | Permalink

    The commission meetings should be televised live, and there should be a multiplexed phone bank with operators to funnel questions and comments from people who for various reasons can’t be present at the meeting. Their voices need to be heard too.

  2. sotheysaid
    Posted January 8, 2008 at 5:15 am | Permalink

    The city council does not want to open themselves up to the public. They could hold a night meeting at least once a month for the working class but they have chosen not to do that.

    They barely let people speak and they have made their decisions on the topics before they hold their weekly meeting.

    There is nothing open about the city council.

  3. Kev
    Posted January 8, 2008 at 5:59 am | Permalink

    9PM is a fine time. No children are going to stay up to watch a meeting of the Wichita Planning Commission. In fact probably nobody will watch it. Its ratings will be worse than NBCs!

  4. Roland
    Posted January 8, 2008 at 10:06 am | Permalink

    I don’t know about telephone banks and operators to handle live calls, but I think just broadcasting on the internet would be better than cable – not everyone has cable.

    And if it’s on the internet, then a copy of the agenda could be posted there too for everyone to read along with. Shouldn’t all legislation be available online for that matter? That legislation belongs to the people, why should we have to go to city hall to find out everything?