Bixby Ranch Hearings to Be Televised

Hearings on the controversial Bixby Ranch development proposal will be televised on the city’s public access channel, despite objections by City Manager Keith Till.

Councilwoman Patty Campbell said Till had tried to kill the broadcasts, first saying the Environmental Quality Control Board didn’t want the two hearings aired, then that it would set a bad precedent, and finally that it would be too expensive.

Till declined to say why he opposed the broadcasts. He sat silently at Monday’s council meeting while several residents and Campbell criticized his efforts.

The environmental quality board has no objections to airing the hearings, said vice chairwoman Donna McGuire. And the cable employees have volunteered to work on the broadcasts for free, Campbell said.

McGuire, a supporter of televising the hearings, said, “It’s a common-sense issue. Unfortunately, common sense is uncommon in government; so why am I surprised?”

Although the City Council’s approval is not required for the hearings to be broadcast, Campbell sought a vote of her colleagues Monday night.

Her motion failed for lack of a second.

“It’s still going to go on,” said Marty Mahrer, producer of the Seal Beach Cable Foundation.

“I plan on putting this thing on. This is just asinine that this is going on.”

The hearings are scheduled for April 29 and tentatively for May 13.