Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Santa Clarita Joins Video Generation at Council Meetings : Government: City starts broadcasts of taped sessions to be shown on public access second and fourth Wednesdays.

Party on Carl. Party on George.

Councilman Carl Boyer, Mayor George Pederson and their peers made their first regular appearance on Santa Clarita’s public access channel Wednesday.

The 5 p.m. broadcast on Channel 20 was a replay of the council meeting held one day earlier. Videotaped by a lone camera from the back of the council chamber and broadcast without editing, it served as an early indicator of how residents and elected officials will act under a video camera’s watchful eye.

Critics had warned of distractions from activists, political hopefuls or government officials playing to the television audience. Naysayers hinted at grandstanding worthy of fiction’s most well-known public access show--Wayne’s World.

Not.

Although some council members dressed a bit more formally and city staffers had to remember to switch on their microphones when speaking, the Tuesday session proceeded as usual.

Pederson presented certificates for good deeds. Councilwoman Jan Heidt read a list of simple philosophies for her invocation. Residents complained about a library tax, a “decrepit” mobile home in a residential neighborhood and plans for a large shopping center near the city.

The typical council actions are exactly what the public needs to see, said Allan Cameron, who has called for public access channels in Santa Clarita since before it became an incorporated city in 1987.

Airing the meetings makes government more accountable and is far more beneficial than any imagined problems, Cameron said.

“Let’s say that every frustrated Al Jolson, Mick Jagger and Robin Williams comes to try out their act. So what?” said Cameron. “Do the negatives outweigh the positives? The answer, proven across the country, is no.”

Council meetings are held on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month, and are scheduled to be shown on Channel 20 at 5 p.m. the following day.