Upcoming Meetings

Town Council 12/8/08:
http://www2.sec.state.ri.us/omfiling/pdffiles/notices/4232/2008/66385.pdf

School Committee 12/9/08:
http://www2.sec.state.ri.us/omfiling/pdffiles/notices/4248/2008/66221.pdf

Memo from Town Council member Laura Flanagan re: Proposed videotaping of TC meetings:

"Councilwoman Laura Flanagan of Coventry, today announced her desire to implement a broadcast of Town Council meetings on the Rhode Island Public Broadcast System (“RI PBS”). Flanagan indicated that a number of Rhode Island Communities currently employ this avenue as a means to involve and inform citizens of the activities of their local government. Broadcasting through RI PBS is free to Rhode Island State and Municipal Agency programs. The initial costs for Coventry would involve the purchase of a video recording device and tapes, which Flanagan estimates would run between $1,500 and $2,500. Other communities currently involved in broadcasting have eliminated service costs by allowing volunteers from the public handle the video camera, recording the meeting. Ongoing, the only necessary monetary outlay would be the cost of the tapes, which Flanagan sees as minimal.

Flanagan states that the actual procedure is very simple. The town would record the Town Council session and then deliver the tape to the Warwick Public Access Studio. Coventry would be assigned a regular time slot. Coventry would be required to sign paperwork releasing RI PBS of responsibility for the content of the broadcast. RI PBS requires the media format to be either Mini-DV tapes or DVD-R. The tapes will be returned to the town after the broadcast. When employed, the recordings would initially be aired on channel 18 and eventually moved to channel 17 (currently being set up for municipal broadcast only). With the approval of the Council, Coventry could begin broadcasting the sessions in the very near future.

Flanagan wishes to invite the community to express opinions on this topic by attending the next Council Meeting on December 8th at 7:00 pm in the Town Council Chambers located at the Town Hall Annex building on Flat River Road. Anyone interested in volunteering to run a recording device at meetings is also encouraged to attend and express this interest.

During my campaign, I committed to work to restore openness, accountability and community involvement between the Coventry Town Council and its citizens. I recognize that it is difficult for many folks to find time between work, children and other responsibilities to attend regular meetings. In my view, implementing this program is a great first step in reaching out to our community and keeping citizens well informed of the happenings in their local government. Therefore, I encourage members of the community to attend our next meeting and share their views on such a program, as I believe this input is important to the Council when deciding how to best keep the public informed. For those unable to attend the meeting on the 8th, I can be contacted by e-mail, megsmile38@gmail.com or telephone (401) 378-3566 and I would be pleased to discuss this further and answer any questions.”

Laura A. Flanagan
Councilwoman - District 2
Town of Coventry