FULLERTON : Council to Consider Televising Meetings

A local video producer will tape two City Council meetings in April to air later on a cable channel, as part of an experiment.

While the council stopped short of committing to broadcasts of future meetings on a permanent basis, it agreed to look into the cost of televising the meetings in response to requests by a group of residents.

Most members on the council agreed that a one-camera operation that focused solely on the City Council members would be too boring, and that if the council agreed to broadcast, it should have either two or three cameras.

Edward J. Dowgialo, president of Forward Entertainment Corp., volunteered to bring in a three-camera crew to film the council meeting for free, so council members could get a feel for the process. He will film the April 5 and 19 meetings, and they will probably be broadcast on future evenings on Comcast, Channel 53, which usually carries public service messages, city spokeswoman Sylvia Palmer said.

Resident Lloyd Kingham said he supported the idea of broadcasting council meetings, because his work schedule made it difficult for him to attend meetings that begin at 4 p.m.

“I think this is great. The time has come that we can use the media out there to see what is happening in the city,” he told the council.

Michael DiCostanzo brought his two children, ages 5 and 2, to show council members why he can’t attend meetings and would like to see them from his living room instead.

“It’s difficult to attend the council meetings when my wife has other functions and I have the children,” he said.

Chris Meyer, assistant to the city manager, told the council that the cost of hiring a professional contractor to broadcast the meetings would be $24,000 to $42,000 per year.

He added that 22 cities in Orange County currently televise their meetings, while nine cities and the Board of Supervisors do not.

Council members Don Bankhead and Molly McClanahan were concerned about the cost of broadcasting the meetings and said they could not justify the expense in light of the current fiscal restraints on the city.

But council members Chris Norby and Julie Sa supported the idea. Norby suggested that council members give up their $100-per-month car allowance and annual trips to the League of Cities meetings to help pay for televised meetings.