Getting Millstone Town-ship Committee meetings on television and into the homes of residents in all corners of the township should be on the short list of officials’ things to do.
A $20,000 subsidy from Cablevision has been sitting around gathering dust, while the responsibility for making something happen with the money has bounced from member to member on the governing body.
The climate of inherent political nastiness, and often inflammatory and divisive partisan rhetoric, that marks many of the committee’s discussions, is one of the most pressing problems facing the township because it often prevents the members of the committee from working together as a functioning unit.
Although every member of the governing body has professed support for getting the cable broadcast system up and running, recent meetings have found them playing the political blame game on this issue.
The committee needs to put the past aside and work on making something happen in the near future.
Putting the township meetings on television represents a unique opportunity that would allow more people to see their government in action.
However, we suspect that just might be the reason officials have stonewalled on this issue for so long.
With the occasional screaming match among officials, frequent heated conflicts, and members of the public often shouted down at the microphone by those in the audience, the atmosphere at the meetings often bears little resemblance to what a forum for effective government should look like.
Once the cameras are in place, officials will not be able to hide behind excuses because the public will see exactly what goes on at the meetings — unfiltered, with their own eyes.
If cameras do become a reality at meetings, it would change township government for the better, no matter what.
Officials either will have to clean up their act and get down to business instead of bickering, or the public just may decide to throw them out when they come up for re-election.
At the very least, it should make for some interesting television, and any resident who is a fan of World Wrestling Entertainment may have a new favorite program.