In an effort to give residents a chance to follow their city
government from the comfort of their own home, the Hollister City
Council has adjusted its meeting schedule so it can be televised in
its entirety by the local access network.
Hollister – In an effort to give residents a chance to follow their city government from the comfort of their own home, the Hollister City Council has adjusted its meeting schedule so it can be televised in its entirety by the local access network.
The council voted unanimously last week to move its official meeting time from 7pm to 6:30pm – a time when the council is usually still asking city staff questions about items on the consent agenda. The change will allow the Community Media Access Partnership to air the meetings in their entirety on local cable channel 17.
“I think it’s imperative that the citizens be able to hear all of what we talk about,” said Councilman Robert Scattini, who proposed the idea of earlier meetings and full CMAP coverage last year. “I’ve been on the council two years and people come up to me and say ‘That’s all you do is just come out and vote on everything?’ They think we’re just ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ people.”
The consent agenda is a list of items the board quickly votes to approve in one fell swoop at the beginning of each meeting. While the items are usually considered to be noncontroversial and predictable in council consensus, individual items are sometimes pulled and discussed at length by council members during the regular meetings.
But this is normally the exception rather than the rule. Scattini said residents often ask him why the council does not discuss the consent items before approving them, and are surprised to learn discussions do take place in a study session before the regular meeting. The public is welcome to attend the study sessions beginning at 6pm, though it’s rare for anyone to show up since the meeting technically doesn’t start until 7pm.
In starting the meetings earlier, the council will be scrapping the un-televised study session and discussing consent items at a time when concerned residents will know to show up. And since CMAP will be airing the discussion of consent items, even those who can’t make it down to City Hall will know what’s going on in Hollister.
“I could never understand why they (CMAP) don’t show all of it. I think it’s important for the citizens that if they’re going to televise any part of the meeting, they ought to televise the whole thing. I think all city business should be privy to the public,” Scattini said. “I think the people out there are really going to like it more this way. They’ll be able to see the good, the bad and the ugly of what we talk about.”
The first meeting at the new time will be on March 7 at 6:30pm.
Jessica Quandt covers politics for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or at [email protected].
