August 6, 2012 MUC: No Round-up Money for Cameras to Televise City Council Meetings But Up To $51,000 for Helen Ross McNabb Lighting and Up To $10,000 for Boys/Girls Club Interior Lighting

At its July meeting, Morristown Utilities Commission (MUC) donated "up to $51,000" of round-up funds to Helen Ross McNabb (HRM) Center for lighting at the planned HRM building:

Then MUC donated "up to $10,000" of round-up funds to the Boys and Girls Club for an indoor energy-efficient lighting upgrade where there is apparently a TVA grant already in place to assist with a project that is estimated to cost $17,000:

After allotting $61,000 of round-up money to HRM and Boys/Girls Club, MUC took up a request from Morristown Mayor Danny Thomas for donation of round-up funds to the City of Morristown for the purchase of cameras to tape council meetings. The tapes would then be broadcast on MUC and Charter Cable government/education channels in the same way that the county has been televising its meetings for nearly 10 years.  After some very interesting discussion and comments, this request was denied:

March 6, 2010 Bob Moore's "News"paper Report vs. Video

CFA, Citizens for Accountability, has been taping both city council and city finance committee meetings for months and months without any problems. At the February 16 council meeting, however, a small light that is about the size of a pencil eraser and that is built into the hand-held camera accidentally came on during the taping.

The lady taping the meeting couldn't see the light, but when Councilmember Claude Jinks complained about a light, she apologized and immediately moved to the other side of the room to tape. After the meeting, she again tried to apologize to Jinks but he would not talk to her or accept her apology. CFA website is here.

Instead of talking with the lady or contacting CFA to see why there was a small light on the camera on  February 16--when that had never occurred before--the council prepared a formal resolution for its March 2 meeting to ban "certain lights" on cameras

Om March 2, Charles Cook, one of the founders of CFA, addressed the council about their resolution banning "certain lights."  "News"paper reporter Bob Moore was there and wrote an article on March 4 in which he described Cook as "angry," said that Cook interrupted Jinks--when it was actually the other way around, and called Cook's comments "invective."

in·vec·tive    (noun)

1.vehement or violent denunciation, censure, or reproach.
2.a railing accusation; vituperation.
3.an insulting or abusive word or expression.

Fortunately, CFA's camera was rolling during the entire March 2 meeting. Click here to see the video segment that shows what was really said, how it was said, and who interrupted whom.

Notice that Jinks interrupts Cook, "requires" Cook not to mention Jinks' name, and demands to see Cook "face-to-face." 

Jinks adds that it's council's policy not to endure personal attacks during the public comments portions of council meetings. Look and listen. Cook didn't "attack" Jinks.  The video shows that it was Jinks who interrupted Cook right after Cook mentioned that the lady who had taped the February 16 meeting had tried to apologize to Jinks twice and that Jinks had refused to accept her apologies. It was Jinks who demanded that Cook meet Jinks "face-to-face."

This type of exchange and this type of reporting is why all work sessions, committee meetings, and regular council meetings should be videotaped and aired on the local government/education channel that is set aside for that purpose.

Invective? That might describe Jinks' attitude and orders to Cook. That might describe Bobby Moore's reporting.

A video tells the tale far better than the nearly 400 slanted words that Bobby Moore used to describe Cook and the nature of Cook's comments to the full council.

March 4, 2010 Morristown-Hamblen CFA (Citizens for Accountability) Tapes City Council Meetings (UPDATE: Video Clip Available)

UPDATE 3/6/10: If you take the local "news"paper, read the March 4 article by crime and city government reporter Bob Moore describing Charles Cook's remarks to council about council's resolution to ban "certain lights" on cameras at council meetings. Look at Bob's choice of words ("invective" "blurting" "interrupted" "angry") in describing Cook and his comments. Now click here to link to the Citizens for Accountability video of Cook's full comments and Jinks' reactions. Cook's comments were delivered calmly and without raising his voice. It would be a real stretch to say the comments were part of an "invective" or that Cook appeared "angry." Further, it is clear that it was Jinks who "interrupted" Cook after Cook mentioned that the lady who taped the February 16 meeting had twice tried to apologize to Jinks after the meeting but Jinks refused to talk to her or to accept her apologies.

Morristown-Hamblen CFA (Citizens for Accountability) has been taping City Council and City Finance Committee meetings for many months now. On Tuesday, March 2, the City Council passed a resolution  banning "certain lights" on cameras at City Council meetings. At least one of the "certain lights" that the City is banning is apparently the light on a camera used by Morristown Hamblen Citizens for Accountability-- a very small light that came on by accident during the taping of the February 16 meeting and that the operator did not know how to turn off.

MHCFA's website is here.  Charles Cook, one of the founders of CFA, was present on March 2 and taping the meeting when the Council voted to ban "certain lights" on cameras. 

Cook addressed the Mayor and Council before the vote on Tuesday. He also wrote an interesting article at the CFA site. Click here to see Charles' article. CFA has been taping council and Finance Committee meetings for many months. For the first time, a small light on the camera being used to tape the council's February 16 meeting came on during the taping. This had never happened before and was not intentional. Claude Jinks complained about the light, and the woman taping the meeting immediately apologized and moved to another side of the room.  The camera operator did not know what had caused a light to come one and could not see the light because it was so small and at the front of the hand-held camera.

After the meeting was over, the camera operator again went up to Mr. Jinks to apologize for the mistake and to assure him that it would be corrected and would not happen again. Mr. Jinks would not accept her apology or talk to her. He just turned and walked off.

The Mayor and Morristown City Council have been asked repeatedly and have refused consistently to tape their meetings and air them on the city's government-education channel that is provided for that very purpose. The Council would love to pass an outright ban on all cameras, but Councilmembers know that they can not do that. So the next best way to show their displeasure and get in a dig at those who are taping the meetings is to draft a formal resolution banning a "certain light" on cameras used to tape the meetings.

Maybe at their next meeting on March 16, the Mayor and Council will consider passing a really important resolution such as one that would "ban Council from sitting around while the City's finances collapse." Oh wait, no need for that resolution. The City's finances are already in a shambles, and the city's sewer system is a multi-million dollar train wreck. And on top of that the Mayor and Council only recently found out about this at least three-year-old mess. Click here.

Yep, it's much more important to spend time drafting resolutions banning "certain lights" on cameras! And it's much more important to make a mess in front of the City Center with a fenced enclosure for "bad signs."

September 3, 2009 More from City Council's Meeting on 9/1/09

Other happenings at City Council on 9/1/09 and what the Trib is likely to report and what the Trib is likely to leave out.

The Trib may report today or tomorrow on the lengthy city council discussion on the Farmer's Market at the corner of S. Henry and W. Morris Boulevard. Mayor Barile did not want to discuss this on Tuesday, but councilman Gene Brooks managed to get the discussion going anyway.

Lots of ideas were thrown out---build a canopy over the area so it doesn't look, as one individual put it, like a "tent city"; sell it (proposals were sought from interested buyers about two years ago, but that's as far as it went); enforce the regulations for the market and perhaps clarify the current regulations regarding who can set up a booth and what can be sold; try to collect sales taxes (This was said to be virtually impossible since the city and state essentially rely on the honesty of the vendor to report sales and forward sales tax to the appropriate entity. It was also pointed out that farmers who are truly selling produce that they grew on their own farm are exempt from sales tax. One person said that he was pretty certain that pineapples being sold at the farmer's market were NOT grown by a local farmer).

What the Trib's Bobby Moore probably won't report is that Charles Cook asked the Mayor and Council to move their meetings to a later time--perhaps 6:00 pm--so more working members of the public could attend if they wanted to.

Cook made an excellent point---city government meetings should be held after normal work hours so the working person can attend.

I have publicly asked a number of times that County Commission move its 11:30 AM committee meetings to 5:00 PM or later for the same reasons as stated by Mr. Cook.

Government meetings should be held at times that are most convenient for the public. Having 11:30 am meetings (county commission committees) and 4:00 pm meetings (city council) shows disregard for the taxpaying public and interested citizens.

There are numerous other "public" meetings of government committees and groups that take place at 7:30 am, 9:00 am, 12:00 pm, 3:00 pm, and other times when the public for all practical purposes is excluded. LAMPTO (Lakeway Area Metropolitan Planning Transportation Organization), Morristown Regional Planning Commission, Morristown Utility Systems, and the Solid Waste Board are a few examples.

Another item that the Trib's Bobby Moore probably won't report is that after Mr. Cook suggested having later meeting times, I asked that the Mayor and City Council tape their meetings and air them on the MUS FiberNet government/education Channel 7. Over 18 Million dollars has been spent on the FiberNet/cable/phone system operated by the City.

County Commission meetings are shown or are supposed to be shown on MUS Ch. 7 (govt/ed channel) on Tuesday and Saturday nights at 9:00 pm. [I get Charter cable, so I'm not certain if MUS is still showing county commission meetings at the same time as Charter does. I do know that MUS is supposed to air county commission meetings.]

With the millions invested in MUS FiberNet, why in the world won't the City tape and air its own meetings on MUS Ch. 7? In addition to airing the tapes, the City could allow easy internet access to the tapes of these meetings at the city's website.

If the City really cares about giving more than lip service to open government, its meetings should be held late in the evening, meetings should be taped and aired on cable Channel 7, AND the meetings should be accessible at any time on the city's website at http://www.mymorristown.com/.

I believe Mayor Barile will place the matter of meeting times on the agenda for discussion at a future work session. She was very hesitant, however, to give the same consideration to taping and airing council meetings.

UPDATE: Well, the Trib's Bobby Moore finally got around to reporting the Farmer's Market discussion (see above) in yesterday's Trib---and that was only three days after the discussion/news took place! Bobby's front-page article was under the headline Farmers Market debate resurfaces. And if you read to the end of Bobby's "Farmers Market" article, you would find a short paragraph about Mr. Cook's request that council hold meetings later in the day (see above) and my request that council televise their meetings (see above). Impressive reporting.