Lynners kept in dark by stubborn councilors

LYNN – The battle continues to wage on between members of the Cable Access Committee over a proposal to televise City Council meetings.Despite years of long, drawn-out discussions to televise the meetings into residents’ homes, and the fact that Lynn is the only community in the state that does not offer a window into its council chamber, three councilors had their minds made up Tuesday to vote against the proposal.Ward 2 councilor William Trahant, Ward 3 councilor Darren Cyr, and Ward 7 councilor Richard Ford refused to approve the proposal to send to the full council until they had hard facts presented to them about how much the project would cost.”I’m not trying to leave the public out, but I don’t think we can afford this and there are a lot of questions to answer first,” he said. “I just want the cold, hard facts first.”Frustrated by Cyr’s comments, City Councilors At-Large Judith Flanagan Kennedy and Paul Crowley insisted that the city would not have to pay a penny for the service because of earmarked funds identified in contracts for Verizon and Comcast that include capital funding allocated strictly for government access, such as televised council meetings.Kennedy went on to make a motion that the project would be contingent upon securing the available funds from Comcast and Verizon.”All that I’m trying to do is make meetings transparent to the community,” she said. “The parking is atrocious at City Hall, and some people don’t come to the meetings because they don’t want to go out at night, or they’re disabled. I find it embarrassing that we don’t cablecast the meetings and I want to bring the city up to speed.”Regardless of Kennedy’s reassurance, Cyr still wasn’t convinced.”There are always costs associated, and we don’t know if Comcast would pay for upgrades if they’re needed,” he said. “I’m not going to vote on a what if. I’m going to vote on facts.”While Ford argued the tapings would not adequately express the work councilors perform on a daily basis, Trahant said he would welcome the tapings if he is supplied with exact figures of how much the project would cost.Ken Kinna, Executive Director of Lynn Cable Access and Media (Lynn CAM) previously said it would cost $15,000 to $20,000 to install cameras in City Hall to broadcast the meetings.Even though Kennedy said there are more than enough funds available to cover the cost to jumpstart the project, Cyr said he would like something in writing from Comcast and Verizon to ease his mind.”I’m not being an obstructionist, but if we’re going to do this, we should do it right by spotlighting a different city councilor each week, or show them driving around in a city vehicle talking to constituents,” he said. “It would cost more, but it would be better. And a kill switch should also be available like they have at the state house.”Kennedy and Crowley shook their heads in disappointment following the meeting and vowed to continue the fight.”We have another avenue that we’re going to pursue in the next two weeks or so, so this is not dead,” Kennedy said. “They’re basically withholding progress and denying the public.”