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Thursday, October 11, 2007

Janesville Annual Budget - You See What You Get

During Monday’s Janesville City council meeting, a taxpaying citizen approached the podium and for the second time, asked the city council to allow permission for the council and administration meetings on the upcoming city budget be televised on the city’s public access cable channel JA-12. Nevertheless, the response from the council was extremely disappointing.

The resident, K. Andreah Briarmoon, made the original request a couple weeks ago explaining that JA-12 needs only one council member to officially request the broadcast. The city council president was the only member to respond directly to Briarmoon’s pointed request to which he replied, ”we haven’t discussed it.” For a moment there, it appeared as if Briarmoon was going to call out each council member in sitting order for their own response to her request, which would have been the proper thing to do considering they are all her representatives at-large. But she did not. Their silence was their only defense, it was deafening.

Equally predictable was the omission of this brief episode the following day in the Janesville Gazette. For a newspaper that has been relentlessly attacking the Janesville school board and union for secret negotiations, demands government openness and records at every turn, and editorialize often about our inherent right to communicate and participate with the people who represent us when they spend our tax dollars, the omission from their city hall reports came as no surprise. When it’s this close to home, no one…ummm…ahhh….. needs to know.

Speaking of deliberate omissions from our local newspapers, a Sound Off caller to the newspaper complained about the lack of reporting of a recent event in downtown Janesville.
JG Sound Off Excerpt:
On health Care:
The Gazette should have covered the rally on Main Street in front of Rep. Ryan’s office Thursday afternoon. The purpose was to ask Ryan to vote to override Bush’s veto on the bill to provide health care coverage for children. There were a lot of people there. It make’s the paper look bad when you don’t cover these events. – anonymous
As far as they’re concerned, it’s now covered.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Baby Bedding.

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