The Fayetteville Government Channel policy was exemplary in encouraging an open and participatory government.
This was reversed in 2006 when the Coody administration removed the policy that authorized citizens to request government issue forums to be produced and televised on the Government Channel. Another reversal occurred in 2010 when the Jordan administration removed the policy authorizing citizens to request meetings, subject to the FOIA, to be televised. The policy now in place essentially leaves all Government Channel programming to the discretion of the city staff and city officials.
These regressive actions were eft ectively initiated and written by the respective administrations’ staft and ostensibly approved by the TelecommunicationsBoard and City Council.
These cancelled policies had worked very well for several years with few complaints.
In 2008, the city attorney stated that the forums were “legal and constitutional … It is a policy decision that you can make (but) there might be viewpoints that you don’t want to hear.”
In that same year, government issue forums on the location of the new Fayetteville High School and the future of the Walton Arts Center were cancelled. Two main reasons were given for removing the citizenrequested government issue forums from the Government Channel: They belong on the Public Access Channel because the government shouldn’t be deciding who gets to speak and, besides, citizens can produce them on public access. But most citizens do not have the platform, and authority necessary to draw credible participantsnor the time and resources to produce a government issue forum. Nor is a citizenproduced forum required to be fair and balanced.
The present Fayetteville administration and staft will tell you “there has never been a more open, transparent, and participatory city government in Fayetteville as that which currently exists.” However, the fact remains that the present Fayetteville Government Channel policy, written by the present city staft, does not authorize citizens to request issue forums. They also say, “We are already televising all meetings subject to FOIA,” but that is like saying, “we don’t need the FOIA laws because we always allow access to our records.” And they are televising “ballot issue forums” but that is not the same as citizens requesting government issue forums on matters that government off cials don’twant to discuss.
The policies that authorized citizens to request specifi c government issue forums and meetings to be produced and televised should be restored. Also new policies should be added that allow more live meetings and support citizen participation in meetings via phones, email and two-way video from their homes and other remote locations. This will move us beyond dated FOIA laws that are based mostly on written documents and on-site meeting rules. These policies will add a new dimension of openness and citizen participation to the Fayetteville city government.
Please support the candidates for alderman and mayor who are willing to implement these policies.
MARVIN HILTON
Fayetteville EDITORS NOTE: THE AUTHOR IS A FORMER MANAGER OFFAYETTEVILLE’S GOVERNMENT CHANNEL AND A FORMER MEMBER OF THE CITY’S TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD.VISION VERSUS MANAGERBoth Dan Coody and Lioneld Jordan are good, decent folks who have Fayetteville’s best interest’s at heart. Neither one “walks on water” or is the “devil’s minion,” if you believe the bloggers around here. They both have their strong points, weaknesses and talents, so we as a community have to decide who and why we will vote for one of these guys.
Lioneld’s strength is that of an off ce manager, keeping the books together, keeping the infrastructure humming along, garbage picked up on time, etc. - you know, status quo stuft .
But being a mayor ismuch more than that.
A mayor needs to have forward thinking in his DNA. Lioneld’s “vision thing” is the Block Street fi asco, an unnecessary parking garage and now, building a four-lane box road around Fayetteville.
Dan has a proven track record of an innovative and completed list of accomplishments, which you can see, touch, walk, bike, visually enjoy and be proud of (for) our little village in the hills.
For these reasons I’m voting for Dan. Nothing against Lioneld, because he is a good off ce manager. If elected, Dan should consider him for chief of staft , but that won’t happen because the “buck stops here” with Dan and that would save the city at least a $110,000 per year.
MICHAEL ALEXY
Fayetteville
Opinion, Pages 14 on 10/21/2012