01-08-2003 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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of Little C andgd COMMUNITY PRIDE 1953 - 2003 515 Little Canada Road, Little Canada, MN 55117 -1600 (651) 766 -4029 / FAX: (651) 766 -4048 mmwci.little- canada.mn.us MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor Fahey & Members of the City Council FROM: Joel Hanson, City Administrator DATE: January 3, 2003 RE: Televising Council Workshops MAYOR Michael I. Fahey COUNCIL Jim LaVaile Matt Anderson Rick Montour Bill Blesener /JDMINISTRATOR Joel R. Hanson This past year, the City Council made a decision to televise all workshops of the City Council. Mayor Fahey has asked me to put this on the agenda to reconsider this decision. Some of the pros and cons as I see them are as follows: Pros: • Increase Public's awareness of Council discussions of various topics. • Expand openness on the part of the City in regards to our activities. Cons: • Less direct public information on some topics (redevelopment) can be preferable. Keep in mind that these meetings are open to the public so as to not exclude any interested party from the discussion. • Meetings need to be in Council Chambers to allow televising thereby creating a more formal setting and a poorer set up for others in attendance. • Additional costs for CTV producer. (I do feel this is a warranted investment.) • Discussions may be less frank and open in a televised setting. I generally favor a more open approach to government. However, I feel we should not discuss development strategy in a televised setting or any similar topics where we would end up revealing our strategy to another party needlessly (again, the meetings are open to the public so there is no guarantee this would not occur anyway). Another issue you may want to consider is the televising of improvement and assessment hearings. We do not currently do that. I would not recommend we start as these projects are limited to specific neighborhoods and the award of bids and other project details go through regular council meetings anyway. Therefore, the Council will have to decide if it wants to reconsider or modify its position regarding the televising of all workshops or other special meetings.