Pueblo voters will have a chance to vote to return televised public comments to Pueblo City Council Meetings!
Pueblo Citizens for Open Government has met the required number of signatures to force the Pueblo City Council to place the item on the November ballot. The council voted 7-0 Monday night to place the item on the ballot, as required by the city charter.
The ballot item will ask city voters to return the public forum to the already televised regular council sessions. The Pueblo City Council removed public comments from the televised meetings in September of 2007, without so much as a public hearing. Public comments were moved into the non-televised work sessions, which does not allow citizens viewing the meetings on television to hear the comments of their fellow citizens.
Supporters of the effort are calling the ballot question the "Pueblo Free Speech Initiative".
Join our campaign to bring back televised free speech to the Pueblo City Council Meetings. If you value open government are interested in getting involved contact us at: pueblofreespeech@gmail.com
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Saturday, August 9, 2008
City Clerk Certifies Petitions!
The City Clerk’s office had completed their review by
City Clerk Gina Dutcher has placed the item on the Pueblo City Council’s agenda for their upcoming August 25th regular meeting. The Pueblo City Charter requires that council take action within thirty days to either pass the ordinance without alterations or refer it to city voters in the upcoming November election.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
GROUP SUBMITS PETITIONS TO RETURN TELEVISED PUBLIC FORUM
The effort has been named the Pueblo Free Speech Initiative by its organizers and seeks to reestablish public forum prior to the commencement of any business at regular Pueblo City Council meetings. The measure would also require that the public forum be included as part of the televised portion of the regular meeting and allow up to six people to address the City Council on camera for five minutes each.
The Pueblo City Council voted last September to do away with the televised public forum by moving it into the non-televised work session meetings. The rule change has drawn criticism from members of the community who are concerned that the move eliminates the public’s ability to voice concerns to the community, especially on nights when the council is taking action by resolution. The council is not required to hold a public hearing before voting on resolutions.
If successful, the City Council will be required to take action within 30 days. The City Charter requires that council either pass the ordinance without alterations or they must refer the proposed ordinance to city voters in the upcoming November election.
The measure would not cost the city any additional funds since the regular meetings are already being televised. The petitions were submitted by
Pueblo Citizens for Open Government was formed shortly after the Pueblo City Council voted to eliminate the televised public forum in September of 2007. Comments made by former City Council President Judy Weaver to the Pueblo Chieftain alarmed many people in the community. Weaver was quoted saying “People have to understand this is our meeting being held in public; it's not a public meeting."
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Denver Post Editorials on Open Government - A Must Read!
The Denver Post has recently published two really good editorial positions on open government. These are a very interesting read. I wonder if our Pueblo City Council has seen these?
Open Government 2008
Accountability begins with open government
By the Colorado Press Association
Article Last Updated: 07/21/2008 11:26:39 AM MDT
The following editorial was provided by the Colorado Press Association as part of its Open Government 2008 series. To read more of the series, click on the links at the end of the editorial.
Accountability.
That one word describes the importance of open government.
Elected and appointed public officials are accountable to the people they serve. And you are the people they serve. You selected them, whether in municipal, school board, county, legislative congressional or presidential elections, to serve you.
Their decision-making process should be conducted in open meetings. Their actions should be conducted so you know why and how they make their decisions.
It doesn't matter whether they are discussing potholes, public education or public safety, these issues affect you and your community.
You have the right to know how your public officials spend your tax dollars. You have the right to know how they make decisions regarding the health and well being of you, your family, your neighborhood, and your business.
During this year's election campaign, you have the right to ask candidates their views on open government. They want your vote; you want their opinion.
Ignore the rhetoric, bumper stickers, yard signs, mailed fliers, robocalls, and TV commercials.
They're simply slogans and sound bites. They're designed to contain little information because the intent is only to increase candidates' name recognition.
When you meet candidates — any candidates — at a town meeting, a campaign rally, at the mall, at a diner or on the street, tell them you want openness in government. Tell them you want transparency over secrecy. Tell them you want to know how they conduct your business.
Ask them if they believe in open government. Ask them if they understand that they must be held accountable for their actions.
And then ask them how they would practice the principles of openness if they were elected.
Dan Haley: Government is the people's business
Ken Amundson: The more we know, the better off we are
Wayne Laugesen: An Olympic effort in Colorado Springs
Bob Moore: The consent of the governed requires transparency
Dale Shrull: The Beijing Olympics and Sunshine Week
Steve Henson: Once elected, public officials develop amnesia
Source: The Denver Post 07/21/2008
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_9915276
----------------------------------------------------
Government is the people's business
Source:
By Dan Haley The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 07/18/2008 03:49:02 PM MDT
This column is part of a series of columns highlighting the importance of open government. To read an editorial by the Colorado Press Association and columns by other Colorado journalists, click here.
My first business cards hadn't even been printed when an editor sent me out to cover a county hospital board meeting. Something about the board hiring a corporate management team.
Snooze.
The chairman gaveled the meeting into session, made a few comments and I scribbled some notes. No news here, I huffed. Then he called for an executive session, cast me out into the hall and closed the doors to the boardroom.
And that's where I sat. For hours.
A doctor, who also had been kicked out of the meeting, finally broke the silence in the hallway,saying, "Don't you think you have a right to be in there, you know, if they're deciding the fate of a publicly held hospital?"
Well, if you put it like that.
I yanked out my wallet and found a dog-eared, yellow business card with an attorney's name on it that someone had given me in college — should a reporter find himself kicked out of a government meeting, no matter how boring he thought the subject matter.
Minutes later, I was rapping on the closed door. A board member opened it only slightly, saw my face and tried to shut it, but I stopped it with my foot like some pushy Amway salesman.
"You have to give me a reason for the executive sessions," I told him, relaying the lawyer's advice. "Contract negotiation," he replied, again slamming the door.
Soon, the door opened, the meeting was again public and the board officially hired a management company. A red-faced board member later confessed that they had discussed all sorts of things they shouldn't have behind that closed door before I knocked on it.
It was an important lesson so early in my journalism career: If the people's business is being conducted, the people not only have a right to know about it, they need to be involved in it.
And it doesn't matter how small the government entity.
For our democracy to work, people need to have a stake in what their government is doing. We simply can't have "government for the people, by the people" unless the people are informed.
It sounds almost trite saying it in these cynical times, but an informed citizenry is the very heart of our democracy. The more information people have, the more they can affect change — from the federal level all the way down to the local library board.
The Colorado Press Association recently launched its Open Government 2008 awareness campaign to educate citizens about open government and to urge them to hold public officials accountable when it comes to open meetings and records. (Check out the editorial at the bottom-left of this page.)
Open government doesn't just benefit nosy reporters. It's not really about us at all. It's about you.
The federal Freedom of Information Act and Colorado's Sunshine Law and Open Records Act are also important tools for citizens who want to watch how government spends their hard-earned money and otherwise conducts business.
Citizens can't hold their elected leaders accountable if they're left in the dark.
For open government to workbest, it should be a two-way street. Government leaders need to shed light on their own actions, and not just when citizens or journalists demand that they do so.
When they don't, we have laws in Colorado and in this country that allow virtually anyone to access the inner workings of our public institutions, and that helps make America the world's strongest democracy.
But more can always be done. And it starts at the ballot box.
Editorial page editor Dan Haley can be reached at dhaley@denverpost.com.
http://www.denverpost.com/haley/ci_9915272?source=rssfeeddigest
Open Government 2008
Accountability begins with open government
By the Colorado Press Association
Article Last Updated: 07/21/2008 11:26:39 AM MDT
The following editorial was provided by the Colorado Press Association as part of its Open Government 2008 series. To read more of the series, click on the links at the end of the editorial.
Accountability.
That one word describes the importance of open government.
Elected and appointed public officials are accountable to the people they serve. And you are the people they serve. You selected them, whether in municipal, school board, county, legislative congressional or presidential elections, to serve you.
Their decision-making process should be conducted in open meetings. Their actions should be conducted so you know why and how they make their decisions.
It doesn't matter whether they are discussing potholes, public education or public safety, these issues affect you and your community.
You have the right to know how your public officials spend your tax dollars. You have the right to know how they make decisions regarding the health and well being of you, your family, your neighborhood, and your business.
During this year's election campaign, you have the right to ask candidates their views on open government. They want your vote; you want their opinion.
Ignore the rhetoric, bumper stickers, yard signs, mailed fliers, robocalls, and TV commercials.
They're simply slogans and sound bites. They're designed to contain little information because the intent is only to increase candidates' name recognition.
When you meet candidates — any candidates — at a town meeting, a campaign rally, at the mall, at a diner or on the street, tell them you want openness in government. Tell them you want transparency over secrecy. Tell them you want to know how they conduct your business.
Ask them if they believe in open government. Ask them if they understand that they must be held accountable for their actions.
And then ask them how they would practice the principles of openness if they were elected.
Dan Haley: Government is the people's business
Ken Amundson: The more we know, the better off we are
Wayne Laugesen: An Olympic effort in Colorado Springs
Bob Moore: The consent of the governed requires transparency
Dale Shrull: The Beijing Olympics and Sunshine Week
Steve Henson: Once elected, public officials develop amnesia
Source: The Denver Post 07/21/2008
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_9915276
----------------------------------------------------
Government is the people's business
Source:
By Dan Haley The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 07/18/2008 03:49:02 PM MDT
This column is part of a series of columns highlighting the importance of open government. To read an editorial by the Colorado Press Association and columns by other Colorado journalists, click here.
My first business cards hadn't even been printed when an editor sent me out to cover a county hospital board meeting. Something about the board hiring a corporate management team.
Snooze.
The chairman gaveled the meeting into session, made a few comments and I scribbled some notes. No news here, I huffed. Then he called for an executive session, cast me out into the hall and closed the doors to the boardroom.
And that's where I sat. For hours.
A doctor, who also had been kicked out of the meeting, finally broke the silence in the hallway,saying, "Don't you think you have a right to be in there, you know, if they're deciding the fate of a publicly held hospital?"
Well, if you put it like that.
I yanked out my wallet and found a dog-eared, yellow business card with an attorney's name on it that someone had given me in college — should a reporter find himself kicked out of a government meeting, no matter how boring he thought the subject matter.
Minutes later, I was rapping on the closed door. A board member opened it only slightly, saw my face and tried to shut it, but I stopped it with my foot like some pushy Amway salesman.
"You have to give me a reason for the executive sessions," I told him, relaying the lawyer's advice. "Contract negotiation," he replied, again slamming the door.
Soon, the door opened, the meeting was again public and the board officially hired a management company. A red-faced board member later confessed that they had discussed all sorts of things they shouldn't have behind that closed door before I knocked on it.
It was an important lesson so early in my journalism career: If the people's business is being conducted, the people not only have a right to know about it, they need to be involved in it.
And it doesn't matter how small the government entity.
For our democracy to work, people need to have a stake in what their government is doing. We simply can't have "government for the people, by the people" unless the people are informed.
It sounds almost trite saying it in these cynical times, but an informed citizenry is the very heart of our democracy. The more information people have, the more they can affect change — from the federal level all the way down to the local library board.
The Colorado Press Association recently launched its Open Government 2008 awareness campaign to educate citizens about open government and to urge them to hold public officials accountable when it comes to open meetings and records. (Check out the editorial at the bottom-left of this page.)
Open government doesn't just benefit nosy reporters. It's not really about us at all. It's about you.
The federal Freedom of Information Act and Colorado's Sunshine Law and Open Records Act are also important tools for citizens who want to watch how government spends their hard-earned money and otherwise conducts business.
Citizens can't hold their elected leaders accountable if they're left in the dark.
For open government to workbest, it should be a two-way street. Government leaders need to shed light on their own actions, and not just when citizens or journalists demand that they do so.
When they don't, we have laws in Colorado and in this country that allow virtually anyone to access the inner workings of our public institutions, and that helps make America the world's strongest democracy.
But more can always be done. And it starts at the ballot box.
Editorial page editor Dan Haley can be reached at dhaley@denverpost.com.
http://www.denverpost.com/haley/ci_9915272?source=rssfeeddigest
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Signature Collection Underway!
We are in full swing of our push to collect signatures for our ballot initiative to bring back televised public comments to the Pueblo City Council meetings. This is an important issue to the citizens of Pueblo to bring back their voice! Help us meet our August 1, 2008 deadline to reach 1,359 signatures.
The ballot initiative will ask the voters of Pueblo to reestablish televised public comments.
If you are a resident of Pueblo and a registered voter and would like to sign or carry a petition please give contact me and I will set you up to collect signatures. It's easy: just start with friends and family, neighbors and attend as many public events and meetings and keep your petition with you. You will fill a packet of 50 signatures in no time!
Give me a call if you can help us: Chris Nicoll 719.248.4198 email: pueblofreespeech@gmail.com
Thanks,
Chris
The ballot initiative will ask the voters of Pueblo to reestablish televised public comments.
If you are a resident of Pueblo and a registered voter and would like to sign or carry a petition please give contact me and I will set you up to collect signatures. It's easy: just start with friends and family, neighbors and attend as many public events and meetings and keep your petition with you. You will fill a packet of 50 signatures in no time!
Give me a call if you can help us: Chris Nicoll 719.248.4198 email: pueblofreespeech@gmail.com
Thanks,
Chris
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Help us bring back televised free speech at Pueblo City Council Meetings
Pueblo Citizens for Open Government is looking for volunteers who can carry petitions for a November ballot initiative that would reestablish a public forum prior to the commencement of the regular televised Pueblo City Council meetings. The measure seeks to encourage free speech and the free flow of ideas by making the meetings more accessible and available to
Thursday, February 28, 2008
PUEBLO DEMOCRATS APPROVE PLATFORM RESOLUTION CALLING FOR RETURN OF TELEVISED PUBLIC FORUM
PUEBLO – Pueblo County Democrats weighed in on the decision by Pueblo City Council to remove the televised public forum from their meetings during Saturday’s Democratic Assembly.
Democratic delegates approved a platform resolution in favor of reinstating televised public comments. The resolution reads: “Resolution # 3: Be it resolved that the Pueblo Democratic Party ask that all City Council meetings will be televised for public access and include public comment for all Pueblo County residents.”
The measure was submitted by members of Pueblo Citizens for Open Government at their neighborhood precincts during the recent February 5th Democratic Caucus. Once approved at the precinct level, the resolution then moved on to Saturday’s County Assembly where it was voted on and approved by the County Assembly Delegates.
“I think there are many voters in our city who are really upset that their right to speak and be heard has been taken away by this council. We plan to ask the voters of Pueblo to bring back free speech at City Hall,” said Chris Nicoll, organizer of Pueblo Citizens for Open Government. The group is currently organizing a petition drive for a November ballot initiative that would ask the voters to approve a new city ordinance requiring televised public comment at City Council meetings. The group also held a Freedom Rally at City Hall in October to protest the rule change and the fact that it occurred without any public input.
Pueblo City Council voted to remove televised public comment from their meetings last September, one month before the municipal election. The council had just placed several questions on the ballot, including the expansion of the Pueblo Convention Center. The move to stop televised public comment before the election has some citizens questioning the timing of events and if this was an attempt by council to silence their critics before the election.
“This council doesn’t want the people to speak on camera where their comments and criticisms will be heard by the public watching from home. Our tax dollars pay for televised open meetings and the people should be allowed to take part in that process on camera,” Nicoll said. The rule change has also raised concerns that the council has limited the access for disabled citizens and the elderly who have a harder time attending the council meetings in person.
Posted by Chris Nicoll - Pueblo Citizens for Open Government
Democratic delegates approved a platform resolution in favor of reinstating televised public comments. The resolution reads: “Resolution # 3: Be it resolved that the Pueblo Democratic Party ask that all City Council meetings will be televised for public access and include public comment for all Pueblo County residents.”
The measure was submitted by members of Pueblo Citizens for Open Government at their neighborhood precincts during the recent February 5th Democratic Caucus. Once approved at the precinct level, the resolution then moved on to Saturday’s County Assembly where it was voted on and approved by the County Assembly Delegates.
“I think there are many voters in our city who are really upset that their right to speak and be heard has been taken away by this council. We plan to ask the voters of Pueblo to bring back free speech at City Hall,” said Chris Nicoll, organizer of Pueblo Citizens for Open Government. The group is currently organizing a petition drive for a November ballot initiative that would ask the voters to approve a new city ordinance requiring televised public comment at City Council meetings. The group also held a Freedom Rally at City Hall in October to protest the rule change and the fact that it occurred without any public input.
Pueblo City Council voted to remove televised public comment from their meetings last September, one month before the municipal election. The council had just placed several questions on the ballot, including the expansion of the Pueblo Convention Center. The move to stop televised public comment before the election has some citizens questioning the timing of events and if this was an attempt by council to silence their critics before the election.
“This council doesn’t want the people to speak on camera where their comments and criticisms will be heard by the public watching from home. Our tax dollars pay for televised open meetings and the people should be allowed to take part in that process on camera,” Nicoll said. The rule change has also raised concerns that the council has limited the access for disabled citizens and the elderly who have a harder time attending the council meetings in person.
Posted by Chris Nicoll - Pueblo Citizens for Open Government
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Citizens Fight to Return Televised Public Forum to Pueblo City Council Meetings
Help Us Save The Televised Public Forum!
