Censorship in Miami Township - MTTV

It is interesting that Miami Township has its own television station facilities (Miami Township TeleVision - MTTV) and the ability to record whatever it chooses, however, public comment at the end of Trustee meetings is recorded but not televised on MTTV programming. The cities of Loveland and Milford (and many other jurisdictions) televise their public comments. Perhaps it is that the leadership in other jurisdictions are more transparent than their Miami Township counterparts. Perhaps the Miami Township Trustees are afraid of the people finding out what is really going on. In fact, I would urge each and every citizen in the Township to attend one of these meetings - held the 3rd Monday of the month at the Civic Center @ 7pm -- to see their local government officials in action. Two thoughts may rise to the surface:

1. The agendas published in advanced of the meeting for residents are vague (and that is putting it nicely). Generally there is no discussion and is rarely ever any dissent in the discussions or votes.

2. If you attend you may find a pattern of issues that the public brings to the public forum. Issues that will never see the light of day. There is strong evidence that there are systemic abuses in the township as it relates to zoning issues. I should also mention that the trustees do not act very favorably if you question any of their decisions or actions. One trustee will get very red in the face like he is going to explode!

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The following information was forwarded to me. The first two justifications cite national level research (I'd like to see the citations). That's just wonderful, but locally, other jurisdictions are televising public comments. What is it that these Trustees have to hide??? The third justification gets at the heart of the matter: DO NOT QUESTION THE AUTHORITY AND DECISION MAKING CAPABILITIES OF YOUR LOCAL ELECTED OFFICIALS. GOT THAT????

Question: Why isn’t the public comment section of the Trustee Meeting televised? I would be interested in hearing the “official” justification.


Answer: Response as received by Tim Pennington, Miami Township, Community Relations Director:

As you are aware, we began cablecasting the Miami Township Board of Trustees meetings in December. We will also air the monthly zoning commission and zoning appeals meetings, too, starting in February. As part of my responsibilities in overseeing the government access channel (Miami Township Television) for the township, I made the decision to air just the business portion of the monthly meetings for several reasons:

1. I do not want to impede any resident who wants to speak during the comment section because they do not want their comments aired on the channel. Some of what the residents say are often personal in nature, sometimes involving neighborly disputes or similar issues. While their comments are certainly part of the official record, there has been much discussion among various other government access channels in the U.S. about this issue, and many channels have decided to only air the business portion of the meeting to which I feel the public is most interested.

2. What I have heard and read from other government access channels across the country [BUT NOT LOCALLY] is that viewer surveys are strong that residents are truly interested in watching the business portion of their local government meetings, and not in resident comments that often have subject matter that does not affect the entire township. [IF THERE IS NOTHING SUBSTANTIVE IN THE BUSINESS PORTION DUE TO LACK OF INFORMATION WHERE'S THE HOOK?]

3. As well, some speakers both in Miami Township, other places locally in Greater Cincinnati and across the country have utilized the microphone at these meetings to make false and potentially slanderous statements against other residents and township employees. While these comments, once uttered, certainly become part of an audio tape of the meeting, I do not feel it is appropriate to provide a platform for personal attacks against other residents and township employees and to replay it onto the government access channel airwaves.

It should also be noted that in the instance of a public hearing during a Trustee meeting, such as with zoning cases or other required hearings, where public comment is required by statute, those speakers will be included as part of the cablecast as part of the business portion of the meeting.

Rest assured, any resident may come to a Board of Trustee meeting and watch and listen to the business portion as well as the public comment section. In all circumstances, those speakers’ names and the topic of their comments are recorded into the official public record, which we publish on our website for anyone to read. In addition, if residents who do not attend meetings wish to hear a speaker’s comments in its entirety, an audiotape of the entire meeting is available for any resident to listen, if they wish.