Livestreaming Splits Council

CAPE MAY – Cape May City Council’s regular business meeting June 18, one with a short, routine agenda, was bogged down in debate and another split vote.
At issue was the way the city uses citizen advisory committees, a hallmark of Mayor Clarence Lear’s administration, and whether or not the most important committees should have video recordings of their meetings.
What has sparked much of the debate is the work of two advisory committees, one dealing with the proposed new public safety building, which could result in a large capital expenditure, and the other with implementation recommendations for proposals in the recently approved master plan, which many see as crucial to maintaining the city’s historic status.
Council members Zack Mullock and Stacey Sheehan, both of whom took office for the first time at the January reorganization meeting, have pushed for using livestream technology or videotaping of the advisory committee meetings as a way to keep the public informed about two projects they consider critical to the city’s future.
They argue that such a move would improve transparency by allowing all residents and property owners, many of whom do not live in the city full time, to stay involved in the issues.
The two council members do not appear to be challenging the use of advisory committees, but are seeking to define the relationship of those committees to elected officials on council and to open the deliberations in those committees to greater public scrutiny.
The majority on council, including Lear, have defeated moves to introduce videotapes of advisory committee meetings. They argue that the committee meetings are open to the public, which allow interested members of the public to see the deliberations firsthand. 
One member of the majority, Council member Shaine Meier, argued that videotaping the meeting would have a dampening effect on the discussions and may lead to some members no longer being willing to serve.
Deputy Mayor Patricia Hendricks, also a consistent vote against the proposals made by Mullock and Sheehan, has pointed to the availability of minutes of each meeting filed with the clerk. She noted that the committee members regularly report on their work to council at meetings, which are livestreamed.
Lear has regularly voted with Hendricks and Meier on the issue, but has seldom given any expression to his views on the subject. He has said that he’s concerned about the logistics and the administrative and technical burden such a process would place on city administration.
Some situations have arisen as individuals have tried to break through the 3-2 voting pattern. In one situation, Lear appeared to second a Sheehan motion to create videotapes of Public Safety Building committee meetings, and then voted with the opposition.
At the June 18 meeting, Mullock proposed holding all future meetings of the Public Safety Building Committee in front of the council at council meetings, something most saw as wholly unworkable.
The issue has repeatedly arisen in various forms with motions by Sheehan to videotape all advisory committee meetings, or with her saying she would be satisfied with the recording of public safety building and master plan meetings, or with Mullock suggesting an advisory meeting be conjoined with a meeting of the governing body.
The public also appears to be split on the issue in terms of what is said during the public comment period.
Members of several of the advisory committees have lauded Lear’s initiatives at community involvement and argued against the need to videotape meetings.
Others have used the podium to protest council’s inaction on the issue. At the June 18 meeting, Wister Dougherty, once vice chair of the Public Safety Committee, accused the council and the mayor of actions that prevent transparency.
“I don’t believe we have transparency,” Dougherty said. “The way council is conducting city business is a disgrace.”
Dougherty’s remarks brought Denny DeSatnick to the podium to defend the administration’s commitment to citizen involvement. DeSatnick used the Beach Safety Advisory Committee as an example of positive efforts by the administration to use citizen talents and skill sets to address important city problems.
What set off much of the long debate was a failed attempt by Sheehan to get a resolution supporting videotaping of committee meetings off the table, so the issue could be discussed by council.
The resolution had been tabled at the last meeting on a motion made by Lear. The motion to bring the resolution off the table lost by the same 3-2 vote.
Solicitor Frank Corrado urged the council to schedule a work session topic for an upcoming meeting that would focus on the issue of the “relationship of the advisory committees to council.”
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.