I agree with Mr. O'Dea on all points except the last one: I know from experience that the video record is often incomplete: tapes do not run to cover the entire meeting. I do not know if this is because the district's agreement specifies an amount of time the video equipment will be staffed, or if it simply an error.
Terri Hyle
From: "K.C. O'Dea" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Winona] Format for school-board meetings Date: Thu, 09 Oct 2003 11:49:10 -0500
[Winona Online Democracy]
As one of the reporters who's job it is to cover the school board's meetings I see no advantage in holding the meetings outside of city hall. Myself and the other reporters were no different from the public who attended the last meeting. We strained to hear what was going on. Since the meetings are not televised or recorded we (reporters) are essentially the only record of what happened. If we have trouble hearing, how can we make sure the record always is correct? No meeting should be ever held without some sort of recording taking place. This would be especially important if one of the board members would like to challenge a quote used by the media. No official record could mean a game of "he said, she said". I brought up these concerns with both Eric Bartelson and several of the school board members. I was told that the board may be looking at purchasing a microphone system that travels with the board so people in the audience can better hear. The is not a good idea for two reasons. The first being that, it will still provide no official record of the meeting (just better sound.) And why should our cash poor school district purchase equipment that they don't need. The public may not relize, but the school board pays the city nothing to meet at city hall. The school board must only pay the fee of the person running the camera system at city hall. Basically the school board gets a well recorded meeting that everyone can hear for about 40 dollars....sounds like a great deal.
K.C. O'Dea
From: Steve Schild Winona Online Democracy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Winona] Format for school-board meetings Date: Thu, 09 Oct 2003 10:12:31 -0500
[Winona Online Democracy]
Kathy Seifert asked if I had any specific suggestions about how to limit the length of discussion at school-board meetings without locking the public out of the discussion. My suggestion is simple: At the point when no new information is being offered and people are repeating what's already been said, then a member of the board, whether the chair or someone else, should say, "Let's move on," or "Call the question." If new information is still being offered, then everyone involved--elected officials and citizens alike--should be prepared to let the meeting go on. Is it easy to know when the new information has ended and the repetition has begun? Not always, no. But there's nothing new about that.
Concerning Mr. Kranz's statement about "the value of promoting constructive dialogue" on the school board and other elected bodies, my main point is this: It hasn't been explained to my satisfaction how the new format would indeed improve the quality of dialogue among board members. It seems that the main thing the new format would do is make it more difficult for the public to know what its elected representatives are doing. How, specifically, would the new format improve the quality of dialogue? How is it inherently better than the previous format for producing higher-quality dialogue?
Regarding Mr. Kranz's question as to whether televising meetings is "the only form of accountability and accessibility," the answer is no--but it's certainly a big one. What other forum literally lets the public see the workings of a public body the way that live television does? Televising all the meetings, I believe, is one of the best, if not the best, uses a community can make of public-access television.
One more point: It strikes me that the committee structure that would have the bulk of discussion on an issue take place outside the regular meetings would merely add another layer that would make it harder for the public to see and know what went into discussion and decisions about certain questions.
Steve Schild
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