Response from David Austin on Omitting Citizen\'s Voices from Meeting Tape

The response from the BOC actually makes sense to me. But, I guess if you want to see yourself on TV, it can be a bit of a bummer. Look on the bright side, you had the opportunity to make your point to the BOC and the people at the meeting heard what you had to say. If you have a message that you need to get out county-wide, you can share that on your own forum without having to worry about edits from the BOC.
 
I actually agree with the fact that if the meeting is going to be aired, the meeting in it entirety should be aired. I believe that cutting out just the people of the county is a bad move. If a citizen takes the time to go and address the BOC they should be able to be heard by the rest of the citizens of this county. I have been made aware of things in the past I knew nothing about by people speaking up at these meetings. Really how much money could 5 minutes be saving?

Most people do not have their own forum, blog, or website to share their message.
 
LisaC said:
The response from the BOC actually makes sense to me. But, I guess if you want to see yourself on TV, it can be a bit of a bummer. Look on the bright side, you had the opportunity to make your point to the BOC and the people at the meeting heard what you had to say. If you have a message that you need to get out county-wide, you can share that on your own forum without having to worry about edits from the BOC.
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Exactly. I hate when people try to make a conspiracy out of nothing.
 
Foxmeister said:
LisaC said:
The response from the BOC actually makes sense to me. But, I guess if you want to see yourself on TV, it can be a bit of a bummer. Look on the bright side, you had the opportunity to make your point to the BOC and the people at the meeting heard what you had to say. If you have a message that you need to get out county-wide, you can share that on your own forum without having to worry about edits from the BOC.
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Exactly. I hate when people try to make a conspiracy out of nothing.
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I don't think it is a conspiracy at all. I just think it is crappy.
 
ShoeDiva said:
I actually agree with the fact that if the meeting is going to be aired, the meeting in it entirety should be aired. I believe that cutting out just the people of the county is a bad move. If a citizen takes the time to go and address the BOC they should be able to be heard by the rest of the citizens of this county. I have been made aware of things in the past I knew nothing about by people speaking up at these meetings. Really how much money could 5 minutes be saving?

Most people do not have their own forum, blog, or website to share their message.
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Yeah, I'm with you on this one. Doesn't have the appearance of transparency. And like she said, how much money could cutting citizen comments possibly be saving?
 
ShoeDiva said:
I actually agree with the fact that if the meeting is going to be aired, the meeting in it entirety should be aired. I believe that cutting out just the people of the county is a bad move. If a citizen takes the time to go and address the BOC they should be able to be heard by the rest of the citizens of this county. I have been made aware of things in the past I knew nothing about by people speaking up at these meetings. Really how much money could 5 minutes be saving?

Most people do not have their own forum, blog, or website to share their message.
Click to expand...

I disagree with you. My father manages the public access channel where he lives. They have to schedule programming just like any TV station does, because people want to know when things will be on. They have no choice but to edit council meetings to fit the designated time slots. If people want to know what John Doe citizen said at a meeting during public comments, be there to see and hear it firsthand.
 
Foxmeister said:
ShoeDiva said:
I actually agree with the fact that if the meeting is going to be aired, the meeting in it entirety should be aired. I believe that cutting out just the people of the county is a bad move. If a citizen takes the time to go and address the BOC they should be able to be heard by the rest of the citizens of this county. I have been made aware of things in the past I knew nothing about by people speaking up at these meetings. Really how much money could 5 minutes be saving?

Most people do not have their own forum, blog, or website to share their message.
Click to expand...

I disagree with you. My father manages the public access channel where he lives. They have to schedule programming just like any TV station does, because people want to know when things will be on. They have no choice but to edit council meetings to fit the designated time slots. If people want to know what John Doe citizen said at a meeting during public comments, be there to see and hear it firsthand.
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Uh huh. So if the meeting runs 15 minutes over (normal meeting) they are going to cut that out and not air it? No, I don't think so. Cut out the fluff. Not the citizens.
Fox, the topic starter aside, (I read the other thread) if you went and made a presentation to the BOC and you were cut out, you wouldn't be upset? You had a legitimate issue and solution to present and now only those with free time on their hands, and able to attend every meeting, were able to hear about it. That is wrong. I want to hear what you and any other citizen has to say about our county.
 
Actually, if I went to make a presentation or statement to the BOC, my expectation is that the BOC and those attending the meeting will hear it and not the entire county (after all, this is supposed to be a chance to address the BOC, not the county). If I want to make a broader statement, then it's up to me to find a proper venue for it - not the BOC or the county taxpayers. And, with the public internet message boards in this county, there are ways to get my message out.
 
ShoeDiva said:
Foxmeister said:
ShoeDiva said:
I actually agree with the fact that if the meeting is going to be aired, the meeting in it entirety should be aired. I believe that cutting out just the people of the county is a bad move. If a citizen takes the time to go and address the BOC they should be able to be heard by the rest of the citizens of this county. I have been made aware of things in the past I knew nothing about by people speaking up at these meetings. Really how much money could 5 minutes be saving?

Most people do not have their own forum, blog, or website to share their message.
Click to expand...

I disagree with you. My father manages the public access channel where he lives. They have to schedule programming just like any TV station does, because people want to know when things will be on. They have no choice but to edit council meetings to fit the designated time slots. If people want to know what John Doe citizen said at a meeting during public comments, be there to see and hear it firsthand.
Click to expand...
Uh huh. So if the meeting runs 15 minutes over (normal meeting) they are going to cut that out and not air it? No, I don't think so. Cut out the fluff. Not the citizens.
Fox, the topic starter aside, (I read the other thread) if you went and made a presentation to the BOC and you were cut out, you wouldn't be upset? You had a legitimate issue and solution to present and now only those with free time on their hands, and able to attend every meeting, were able to hear about it. That is wrong. I want to hear what you and any other citizen has to say about our county.
Click to expand...

No, I wouldn't be upset. I didn't go to the BoC meeting to give the presentation to the citizens of the county. I went there to give the presentation to the people who actually make the decision; the BoC. If you wanted to hear my presentation, then you should have been to the BoC meeting.

This is why it would be great to have a weekly newspaper located in this county, reporting news for this county. I'm sorry, but the "Paulding Neighbor" is not a weekly paper serving the residents of this county. There's very little coverage of BoE and BoC meetings. There's very little coverage of Hiram and Dallas city council meetings. There is no real news source in this county to provide us the information. A real newspaper, even if it's weekly could provide great coverage of these meetings.

While I lived in Michigan, I lived in a city of 16,000 people and the county population was 72,000. There was a daily newspaper that did quite well, but there was a weekly newspaper that did even better. A good friend of mine owns the weekly paper. It is delivered free every Sunday to every house in the county and you can pick up a free copy at many different stores throughout the county. It provides very detailed reporting of every municipal meeting throughout the county. It also has a great sports section where every high school team is covered. This is something that is sorely lacking in Paulding County. We have no real news source.
 
Foxmeister said:
ShoeDiva said:
Foxmeister said:
ShoeDiva said:
I actually agree with the fact that if the meeting is going to be aired, the meeting in it entirety should be aired. I believe that cutting out just the people of the county is a bad move. If a citizen takes the time to go and address the BOC they should be able to be heard by the rest of the citizens of this county. I have been made aware of things in the past I knew nothing about by people speaking up at these meetings. Really how much money could 5 minutes be saving?

Most people do not have their own forum, blog, or website to share their message.
Click to expand...

I disagree with you. My father manages the public access channel where he lives. They have to schedule programming just like any TV station does, because people want to know when things will be on. They have no choice but to edit council meetings to fit the designated time slots. If people want to know what John Doe citizen said at a meeting during public comments, be there to see and hear it firsthand.
Click to expand...
Uh huh. So if the meeting runs 15 minutes over (normal meeting) they are going to cut that out and not air it? No, I don't think so. Cut out the fluff. Not the citizens.
Fox, the topic starter aside, (I read the other thread) if you went and made a presentation to the BOC and you were cut out, you wouldn't be upset? You had a legitimate issue and solution to present and now only those with free time on their hands, and able to attend every meeting, were able to hear about it. That is wrong. I want to hear what you and any other citizen has to say about our county.
Click to expand...

No, I wouldn't be upset. I didn't go to the BoC meeting to give the presentation to the citizens of the county. I went there to give the presentation to the people who actually make the decision; the BoC. If you wanted to hear my presentation, then you should have been to the BoC meeting.

This is why it would be great to have a weekly newspaper located in this county, reporting news for this county. I'm sorry, but the "Paulding Neighbor" is not a weekly paper serving the residents of this county. There's very little coverage of BoE and BoC meetings. There's very little coverage of Hiram and Dallas city council meetings. There is no real news source in this county to provide us the information. A real newspaper, even if it's weekly could provide great coverage of these meetings.

While I lived in Michigan, I lived in a city of 16,000 people and the county population was 72,000. There was a daily newspaper that did quite well, but there was a weekly newspaper that did even better. A good friend of mine owns the weekly paper. It is delivered free every Sunday to every house in the county and you can pick up a free copy at many different stores throughout the county. It provides very detailed reporting of every municipal meeting throughout the county. It also has a great sports section where every high school team is covered. This is something that is sorely lacking in Paulding County. We have no real news source.
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I totally agree with that. We have no paper or coverage of this area.
I still believe if you are going to air the meeting you air it in its entirety. Those few minutes are not saving much. (Since that is the reasoning provided)

I think there is some history here with the topic starter and some folks.(and the BOC) I am just looking at what has always been done, why it was changed, and the reasoning behind that change. The reasoning does not sound very reasonable to me. How much money is really being saved??? Asking people to attend every single meeting so they don't miss out on anything also seems unreasonable. As I stated previously, some things I was not ever aware of until I heard a citizen speak out. (Happening on the other side of the county, me just being blond and unaware.......) Yes you make a presentation to the BOC, which most times they "think" on, if someone else sees it they can also get involved, put forth their ideas, etc etc etc....
 
LisaC said:
Foxmeister said:
ShoeDiva said:
BTW: Does anyone know what we missed that started this?
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This.

http://dallashwy.com/index.php?topic=4275.0
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Just from my own experience, any time you have to wait for a "Part II," it's usually not as interesting and the original story. But, if he shares it here, we shall see.
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I agree. Usually having to wait for Part II that never arrives is an indication the person who gave Part I was working an agenda.
 
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