Accessibility to Board the Key : Televised Supervisors’ Meetings Would Benefit the Public

One sensible suggestion spawned by the county’s bankruptcy was making the Board of Supervisors’ meetings more accessible to the public. The board has not done as much in that field as it should have.

The supervisors do meet at night once a month. That is a good idea, making it easier for residents to see for themselves how their government operates.

But heads of county agencies began dropping complex or controversial matters from the agenda for night meetings. Items that might be time-consuming were pushed back to the morning meetings, which are not accessible to people whose jobs make it impossible to journey to the Hall of Administration in Santa Ana. The supervisors should have overruled the department heads and insisted on hearing all topics, even though attendance at night meetings has dropped since the December 1994 bankruptcy.

The board does deserve credit for scheduling its first-ever meeting outside Santa Ana, this Wednesday’s session at Irvine City Hall to discuss the heated subject of what to do with El Toro after the Marines leave the base.

But earlier this month, the supervisors wrongly rejected a chance to try to televise their sessions, which would give viewers a glimpse into how they work.

More than half the 31 cities in Orange County and a number of school boards televise their sessions. It is easier for cities than for the county because cities control the cable franchises within their borders. But several of the state’s largest counties, including Sacramento, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego, put their meetings on the small screen. Los Angeles County began televising its board meetings last year.

Supervisor William G. Steiner said televising meetings could lead members of the public and the politicians to posture for the cameras, making the meetings last too long and leading to decisions made out of exhaustion. Supervisor Jim Silva said that when he was on the Huntington Beach City Council, the same people said much the same thing at every meeting, playing to the cameras and caring more about getting on television than helping government.

Yes, that can happen, but speechmaking can be limited. Keep the big picture in mind. Residents who pay for county government deserve a better glimpse of how it functions. That’s how a democracy should work.