BURBANK : TV Makes Board President a Celebrity

Burbank school board President Elena Hubbell now gets recognized in supermarkets, and the messages on her answering machine now mention what she says during school board meetings.

“I almost feel like I’ve become a celebrity somehow,” Hubbell said.

The administrator had wanted to get the bimonthly meetings broadcast on cable television, and she got her wish in June. The board started meeting in the Burbank City Council chambers, where the sessions could be broadcast on Sammons Communications channel 21.

But the school board had to revamp its format to make it more suitable for television. Meetings have often lasted past midnight, and before the change to television, members of the public often had to wait until 10 or 11 p.m. to speak.

When the format was first changed in June, the time for public comment was changed to earlier in the meeting.

Last week, the board voted to make more changes:

* It will start meetings at 6 p.m. instead of 7.

* It set 7 p.m. as the fixed time for public comment.

* It will not take up new business after 10 p.m. unless the board votes to continue the meeting.

“It’s strictly done so we can get some business done when we’re still fresh and alive,” Hubbell said.

The phone calls she gets show that “there are people who can’t get to meetings so they’re turning it on.”

The early deadline for finishing the meetings will not affect board business, Hubbell said. The board also set up an intensive schedule for special meetings this fall as it grapples with how to renovate the district’s high schools.

“If there is something important we’re not going to just end the meeting,” Hubbell said.