A Need to Televise Council Meetings

* I am compelled to respond to the recent article “Is TV in the Future for Council Fans?” What I find intriguing are the remarks of Councilman A.B. (Buck) Catlin. He states, “What is the percentage of people that will actually view it?” and “It would be better if the people spent more time in the City Council chambers.”

I can’t speak for Mr. Catlin, but I’m unaware of any working man or woman, or many parents with children, that are available at 3:45 p.m. in the afternoon . . . “to spend their time at the City Council chambers.” This is not the 1950s era. Most working adults in today’s society leave for work in the morning in the dark and return home from work in the dark.

Most of us would like to come home, have dinner with our family and possibly watch live, the City Council proceedings on cable TV; and possibly play back on our VCRs the afternoon session that we taped while at work. Here’s an opportunity for the entire family to learn firsthand about city government.

By televising City Council meetings, we’ll be better informed and there won’t be any surprises as to how our elected officials are spending our hard-earned dollars. Plus we’ve got them on tape, word for word. Had this system been in effect this past nine months, we in Fullerton might not be involved in the costly recall predicament we find ourselves in today.

ALAN MORTON

Fullerton