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Editorials
Council's TV decision will be good for town
They have been reluctant stars of the small screen, but acknowledging the ground swell of community support for televised town council and planning commission meetings, the council has agreed to permit KCAT cameras into the council chambers.
We think council members should be heartened to discover the enthusiasm in town for televised meetings. It means that a lot of people who don't normally make it to meetings, are nevertheless interested in seeing for themselves what's going on in their local government. People in this valley, after all, are notoriously busy.
Although council members originally protested that the cameras would lead to grandstanding and create a circus atmosphere in the chambers, that has not proved to be the case in other communities. In cities where meetings are televised--and in Silicon Valley, that's most cities--officials report that once the novelty wears off, most participants forget the cameras are there.
Not long ago, the council was pretty much unanimous in its opposition to live TV coverage. And the set-up costs were an easy argument against wiring the chambers. But when the town's lawsuit against AT&T on behalf of the local public-access station ended with a $96,000 settlement, it took a lot of steam out of that argument.
In describing the process of individual council members listening to the community, mulling things over and eventually coming around, councilwoman Linda Lubeck summed it up nicely when she said, "You think about something long enough and it makes sense. It's just the right thing to do. ..."
Coverage of the council and planning meetings will cost the town approximately $10,560 a year. If the result is a better-informed citizenry, it will be money well spent.
Citizen Activists
Although audience participation in the planning commission's public hearings for the General Plan update has been limited, we think that speaks less to lack of interest than to a process that has already involved a broad cross-section of the community.
Through two task forces and a General Plan committee, literally thousands of hours have been spent surveying, analyzing, writing and rewriting the draft that is now moving to the town council for yet further comment.
The document has generated a good deal of support, and we believe that the November council election will reflect a new level of interest and participation brought about by this citizen-heavy process.
Back when Joanne Benjamin was mayor, she proposed the first task force as a way not only to begin the General Plan update, but specifically as a means of educating people in the community who might, in turn, become more active in local government.
It looks as if both goals are going to be achieved.4
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
