It seemed as though the primary obstacle to recording and broadcasting the preagenda and special meetings was the cost of having a person operate the equipment used to record the current City Council meetings. I would like to encourage the council to find a way to broadcast the preagenda meetings plus special meetings such as the one involving the sewer rates. Given the large amount of dollars spent by the city, I would think it shouldn’t be impossible to find a few dollars to run the equipment.

Broadcasting these meetings would serve to counter the many critics of the preagenda meetings and would help to inform common citizens of information about the issues coming before the council. I am sure that there are others like me who are interested in hearing an airing of the issues even if the interest doesn’t rise to the effort required to sit physically in the council chambers. Some of us have health issues which impose unique costs to physical attendance.

If there is no money available for the personnel needed to operate the equipment, then I suggest you shift the hours of someone who can work the equipment. Alternative solutions might be to solicit funds from the newspaper and other sources to cover the expense or see if there are individuals who would volunteer a few hours to operate the equipment — maybe from the pool of volunteers who are available for helping the library operate the new coffee bar. Maybe Mr. Harold Kamrath could be enlisted to run the equipment. Perhaps a little socializing before and after the pre-agenda meetings would result in a higher level of respect during the Monday meetings. Thank you.

David Woodruff

Albert Lea