Televised council meetings topic at cable meeting

BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer

LONG BRANCH — Talks are underway about renewing the city’s contract with cable provider Comcast New Jersey and televising City Council meetings has become part of the discussions.

On March 18 the Long Branch City Council held a special meeting to discuss the upcoming cable contract renewal. The meeting was open to the public and included a presentation from Comcast Area Director of Government & Community Affairs Rob Clifton.

Council members Brian Unger, David Brown, Dr. Mary Jane Celli and Council President Michael DeStefano were in attendance.

Long Branch has had a contract with Comcast for the past 15 years. The existing contract will be up on Sept. 19 and negotiations with the city are expected to start soon, according to a Comcast spokesman.

One of the issues raised at the meeting was the possibility of broadcasting council meetings on the local station or online. Several residents spoke in support of this idea, which has Unger’s backing.

“Opening up council meetings on television would hopefully bring transparency in the government, which is sorely needed,” said Denise Hoagland of Marine Terrace.

Unger suggested avenues to explore to have City Council meetings broadcast.

“I had a conversation with the superintendent of schools to see what he thought about broadcasting City Council meetings,” Unger said. “He said he might be able to help with people working the cameras or lighting for extra credit.”

He also said that Monmouth University could be helpful in broadcasting the meetings and he suggested that it might be cost effective for the city to hook up to the fiber link from the high school or middle school.

Unger suggested that if meetings are broadcast, it might be possible for people at home to email questions to the council and have them answered at the meetings.

Celli urged Comcast to consider offering a discount to seniors, but Clifton said Comcast cannot offer discounts based on age. However, residents who are on the PAAD program [Pharmaceutical Assistance to the Aged & Disabled] may receive a 10 percent discount on cable services, he said.

“We have a lot of seniors in this city,” Celli said. “We all know what the economic times are. Not many of our seniors are on PAAD, that’s why I’m a little concerned.”

Mayor Adam Schneider and Councilman Anthony Giordano were not present at the meeting, which ended with no official vote being taken.

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