Mar 28, 2008

Television can be good for civic life

Editorial

At a time when many public agencies use technology to promote openness in government, it's disheartening to hear that cable television viewers may be blocked from seeing a special school board session with the Los Altos City Council amid concerns about long meetings.

The problem is that the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District board does not televise its meetings, while the Los Altos council, to its credit, does. Under the school board president's request, the city policy would take a holiday for the June 9 meeting.

School board President Judy Hannemann has made an unconvincing case for keeping the meeting off television. Hannemann argues that such meetings can be more quick and efficient when they are not broadcast. School board meetings now end at 9 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Hannemann said.

This overlooks the fact that elected officials shouldn't be watching the clock when they are making decisions that affect voters or their children.

Transparency in government is difficult for those governing, but it makes for better outcomes.
The school board-city council meeting will tackle at least one hotly debated issue - whether the city should prevent a taco truck from selling food near Los Altos High School. Why shouldn't TV viewers be able to watch a meeting on this controversial issue?

You can argue that the meeting is still open to the public. That does meet the letter of the law. And we don't deny that meeting participants may talk longer when they know there is a bigger audience watching.
But other public agencies on the Peninsula broadcast meetings on cable TV and make them available via webcasts because they know that keeping the public informed and engaged is more important than shorter meetings. These agencies know there are a number of people in the community who may not be able to attend meetings in person.

Opening these meetings to a wider audience on the Web and through TV is a positive step and we hope to see more of it. We feel there should be more openness in government, not less.