Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

BYRNES STILL PUSHING THE TV BUTTONS

mtowntv3_ir

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

When the New Year rolls in, Sean Byrnes will no longer sit behind the dais of Middletown’s governing body. So if he wants to know in detail what happens at its meetings, he’s got one option: to sit in the audience.

But while the Democrat’s days as a township committee member are winding down, Byrnes continues to push to have meetings televised, despite resistance.

At the committee’s next meeting, in December, Byrnes — who lost his bid for re-election earlier this month — said he intends to introduce a resolution to videorecord the meetings and put them online.

And if the past is any indicator, his will be the only vote in favor of it.

Byrnes’ Republican counterparts on the committee have said at recent meetings, when he has brought the idea up, that considering a tight budget that has already included layoffs, taxpayers should be spending money on this. The cost itself is a nebulous figure. Numbers as low as $25,000 and upwards of $100,000 have been thrown out among the committee.

“I have no problem with it as long as it doesn’t cost us anything,” Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger said at an October meeting. “We’re looking to save money here, not spend more. I don’t think it’s fair to taxpayers to spend on something that is non-essential.”

Last week, Byrnes showed that airing meetings can cost as little as an internet connection. At the committee’s meeting, he set up a laptop and webcam, demonstrating that through a website, justin.tv, anybody with a password to the account he set up could catch every minute of the meeting.

Certainly it would cost more to install cameras and the proper tools to get committee meetings on the airwaves, Byrnes admits.

But in his view, “that’s a worthwhile expense to allow our citizens to see what we’re doing. That holds us accountable,” he said.

His idea is to have more transparency in local government. Meetings in Middletown typically have low attendance, and it’s almost always the same faces in the audience. Byrnes thinks more people would like to know what the committee is doing, but don’t have the time or means to make meetings. Making them available on television or online will offer a more convenient option for interested residents, he said.

“In the last few years, it has seemed to me that more people are paying attention. When I talk to people, they’re more aware because their pockets aren’t as full,” Byrnes said. “They’re keeping a closer eye on how money is spent. The politicians can’t get away with as much when people are paying attention.”

Resistance to airing the meetings, while on its face is for financial reasons, isn’t new to town government. In East Brunswick, previous councils balked for years at the idea of televising government meetings, said Cindy O’Connor, program manager for EBTV, which produces council and school board meetings. It’s been 12 years since a new council, running on a platform of transparency, decided to air meetings and they went live on the air, she said.

“There had been a sentiment in town, well, who will watch anyway? And it turned out people were really interested,” O’Connor said. “The council meetings are the most watched program we produce.”

Byrnes says the production doesn’t have to be a grand, and it doesn’t need to be Middletown’s must-see TV, he said.

“We just need to show it,” he said. “We need people to get involved, we need people for their service, we need their thoughts.”

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
Partyline
RED TRUCKS AT RED ROCK
A small dishwasher fire at Red Rock Tap and Grill was put out quickly by firefighters overnight, causing minimal damage. Red Bank Fire Depar ...
CREATIVE COVER UP
The windows of Pearl Street Consignment on Monmouth Street were smashed when a driver crashed their car through them injuring an employee la ...
THEY’RE BACK!
Ospreys returned to the skies over Red Bank this week for the first time since they migrated to warmer climes in late fall. With temperature ...
SPRING IS SPRUNG
RED BANK: Spring 2024 arrives on the Greater Red Bank Green with the vernal equinox at 11:06 p.m. Tuesday.
RED BANK’S FINEST – AND NEWEST
Red Bank Police Officer Eliot Ramos was sworn in as the force’s newest patrolman Thursday, and if you’re doing a double take thinkin ...
EASTER EGG MAYHEM AT THE PARK
An errant whistle spurred an unexpectedly early start to the Spring Egg Hunt on Sunday, which had been scheduled to begin at eggsactly 11am ...
PRESEASON DOCKWORK
RED BANK: With winter winding down, marina gets ready for boating season with some dockwork on our beautiful Navesink River.
CORNED BEEF AND DISCO FRIES?
It’s Friday, and smart Lent-observing Leprechauns know the pot of gold at the end of Red Bank’s rainbow is actually the deliciou ...
SURFBOARD DITCHED
It’s a violation of etiquette in surfing to ditch your board.  (it could hit another surfer and hurt them). But someone appears to ha ...
ELSIE, TAKE ME WITH YOU!
Soaked by pouring rain with the temperature hovering in the low 40’s, this sign in the window of Elsie’s Subs on Monmouth Street ...
WALK THIS WAY
PARTYLINE: Before-and-afters of a sidewalk cleanup on West Street.
SOGGY NOTION
RED BANK: Breezeway sculpture captured the mood downtown as heavy rains fell Saturday morning.
HOME DELIVERY
RED BANK: After a subdivision, an instant house rises on a new Catherine Street lot.
COMMUNITY PROFILES
For Black History Month, Red Bank's Community Engagement and Equity Advisory Committee has been running a series of local profiles on Facebo ...
HEARTY FAREWELL FOR HARDY
RED BANK: Council to honor DPU supervisor Rich Hardy, who retired recently after almost 39 years of keeping things running.
HOMEBOUND? READ ON…
RED BANK: Can't get to the public library? It's now offering free delivery and pickups for homebound borough residents.
TAMING A BEAST OF A WEEK
RED BANK: After the second snowfall of the week, a borough family finds the perfect use for it – a Godzilla snow sculpture.
RED BANK: LIBRARY CLOSED, BUT THE HILL’S OPEN
RED BANK: Though the library was closed by a snowstorm, kids got to enjoy the riverfront property's steep slope Tuesday.
LIGHT(HOUSE) MAKEOVER
This year, getting ready for spring means a midwinter makeover for Strollo's Lighthouse in Red Bank.
TODAY: LOCAL PUPPY COMPETES ON ANIMAL PLANET’S “PUPPY BOWL”
Red Bank’s very own rescue puppy, Biscuit, is set to compete in Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl this Sunday, February 11, at 2 PM. Th ...