Dear Editor:
It is astounding to me that with all of the recent talk about open and transparent government, the City of Hoboken is unable or unwilling to televise city council meetings in a timely manner as they are supposed to do. Given recent events, you would think something like this would be made a priority, but apparently it is not. Years ago, my Councilwoman in the 2nd Ward, Beth Mason, led the fight to have these meetings televised so the public could stay up to date on what was happening in our government, and we were able to accomplish this, even under the Roberts administration. Now, under Dawn Zimmer’s administration, we have to wait two weeks to watch a censored version of the council meetings. I realize meetings are broadcast on the internet, but people who do not have a computer in their home should still be able to view the meetings on television as before.
I have called city hall multiple times and spoken to several people about this, including Business Administrator Arch Liston. They have given me a number of excuses, ranging from an inability to get into the high school after hours, to the meetings being too long, to needing new equipment. Mayor Zimmer has been willing to constantly upgrade the city’s website, email and text messaging programs to send out political messages, so I find it hard to believe that we can’t find a way to provide a service as simple as televised council meetings. I hope the Mayor can find the time in the near future to provide us with the open government and access to public information that we so often hear about yet so rarely see.
Sincerely,
Michele Dubreuil