ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 24, 1995 TAG: 9512260033
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER LIVE, FROM ROANOKE, it's Monday council
meetings...
COUNCIL CONSIDERS TELEVISING MEETINGS
Will Monday Night Football ratings get sacked?
Does "Chicago Hope" have a prayer?
Roanoke Valley channel surfers may find out next year, when a few new - and local - faces appear on TV. Roanoke City Council might be going cable - either live or tape-delayed, or both.
After almost a year of mulling over whether to air meetings on Cox Communications' government access channel, City Council will make a decision in January or February.
Mayor David Bowers broached the subject at a Dec. 11 council meeting, saying the matter had "welled up" from members during recent council "visioning" workshops.
Bowers asked City Manager Bob Herbert to bring a recommendation on broadcasting meetings back to council within 60 days.
"Times are changing, and we've got to update our system and update our efforts to get our citizens involved," Bowers said at the meeting.
An informal poll of council members suggests that the votes are there for the cameras.
Bowers, an admitted C-SPAN "junkie," favors televising the meetings, as do Councilwoman Linda Wyatt and Councilmen William White and Mac McCadden.
So does Vice Mayor John Edwards, although he's likely to be in the state Senate by the time the issue comes up for a vote.
Councilman Jack Parrott, once the most vocal opponent to cameras in the chambers, has come around.
"It's a good idea," White said recently.
"It gives citizens who don't have a chance to come down to City Hall a chance to see government in action. I think a lot of citizens in Roanoke will pick up on it and see how we perform, see how the [city government] administrators perform."
But at least one member has some qualms.
The lone holdout so far is Councilwoman Elizabeth Bowles. Last week, she was leaning against the idea. She said she fears televising meetings will encourage turnout by residents more interested in glory before the cameras than in substantive issues.
Bowles said she's always open to germane resident comment during council meetings.
But "the agenda is sometimes tight and long,'' Bowles said. ``We don't need to give people an opportunity to make it longer. There will be people who come and position themselves for an opportunity to appear on TV."
Parrott said he believes some showboating will occur initially, but that it will taper down as the novelty wears off.
Still up in the air is whether the meetings would be aired live on Mondays, taped and televised later, or both. And there is no start date yet. Some council members said they believe broadcasting meetings shouldn't start until after City Council elections in early May.
Televising meetings wouldn't impose any additional cost on city taxpayers. The government access channel already owns the equipment. And staff members for RVTV, the name of Channel 3, are paid out of franchise fees that Cox Cable viewers already pay, said Michelle Bono, a city spokeswoman.
Bowles said she doesn't believe many people will tune in for council meetings, which often last three hours or more. And she doubts they would get much out of the shows simply by tuning in for a few minutes.
But if Roanoke County's experience is any indication, Roanoke City Council meetings will get lots of viewers.
The Roanoke County Board of Supervisors has been televising its Tuesday meetings live since February, and tapes are replayed at other times on Channel 3. Supervisor Bob Johnson said the number of people watching is ``1,000 percent" higher than he expected, based on comments and phone calls he gets from residents.
"In my wildest dreams, I wouldn't have imagined it would have that kind of viewership," Johnson said, adding that he would like to expand the coverage to council work sessions.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 linesby CNB