Open government or not, here we go. This Sioux Falls City Council decision starts the official process requiring boards and commissions to post their meetings on line.
The public discussion part of this item on January 17, 2017 was started by Park Department Director Don Kearney when he jumped to the front of the line and gave the mayor’s well rehearsed talking points. When Liz, Scott and Bruce finished the mayor once again had interject with pre-discussion commentary toward David Zokaties. Once David finished we had another Ferris moment when the mayor decided to call out Tim Stanga. What is it about the mayor? Why can’t people just attend City Council and not be harassed by him?
Based on experience with this administration, they will either:
1. spend another $60,000 on equipment and a staffer to operate it or
2. they will go to the Kmart clearance sale to buy a recorder to prove it won’t work.
In this discussion opponents stress:
* The burden of operating a video camera (even though they have been shown how easy it is to setup and record).
*The mental pressure on members being recording (if public scrutiny is too much, go home and someone else will take their place).
* The ability of media or malicious people to snip clips and use them out of context (as if this can’t happen now).
* Don’t just do the Park Board, do all 44 citizen boards (all we can say is YES!!!! but do them all once the routine is perfected).
Cameraman Bruce is looking forward to being at a few of these meetings just to record them. If the bloated Parks Department budget can’t find a few dollars to buy a decent camcorder and instead uses a crappy tape recorder to try and prove their point, we will be comparing the results of both. We know this mayor always plans to fail when he needs to prove a point and plans to win at all costs when he needs too.
As a side note, when you watch or attend most city board meetings you will find the comfortable nature of the participants shows many of the decisions were probably made long before the public displays.