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LibraryLady(ncjanow)
Supporter
Username: Librarylady
Post Number: 2128
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 1:02 pm: |     |
Well, my paper arrived and low and behold lookie here.
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/essex/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1106460750309430.xml
Great pix of Jamie, Art G., Tucker etc.
tuned for more Maplewood action
Township meetings on television at cafe
Sunday, January 23, 2005
BY KATIE WANG
Star-Ledger Staff
Forget those shows about swapping wives, extreme makeovers, island dwellers and wannabe Donald Trumps.
In Maplewood, the ultimate reality show is the township committee meeting.
Aired live twice a month, the discussions about ordinances and parking issues are as entertaining to some as any other spectator sport.
"It's just like when you're watching a sporting event," said Winston Hahne, a lifelong Maplewood resident. "Is it more fun to watch it at home or to watch it with like-minded people?"
But the acoustics in the town hall were terrible, often resulting in echoes. It was impossible to chat during the meetings or make private comments about some of the topics on the agenda.
The idea came about last year when Art Christiansen and Art Gartenlaub, two politically active Maplewood residents, opened their new cafe on Baker Street called Here's 2 the Arts. Both men had staged unsuccessful runs for office and attended the township meetings on a regular basis.
So Christiansen and Gartenlaub decided to show the meetings on television and invite residents to watch them together.
"This presents an interesting way to make this a social event," said Christiansen, 64. "It's very important to have this back and forth."
The gatherings draw a cross-section of residents. Some are Rotary Club members. Others are residents who are plugged into what's going on around the village. And a few are concerned homeowners who want to keep an eye on local government without having to actually attend the meetings.
"I can't stand being around some of those people," said Hahne, 31, who works in real estate and dislikes politicians. "I think I should definitely be informed."
As expected, these spectators are not the type to keep quiet during the meetings. Often, they erupt into debates or discussions about the issues, even though the meetings themselves are actually tame, especially compared with their counterparts in South Orange where trustees bicker and occasionally storm out on a regular basis.
Sometimes, on particularly salient agenda items, the meeting spectators will hop in their cars for the two-minute drive to town hall so they can speak during the public comments section.
And at the end of the night, they sometimes take a vote on who was the most effective committee member that night.
It may seem a little strange if it weren't Maplewood, where many of the town's 23,646 residents are often tuned into www.maplewoodonline.com, a popular Internet site where debates about local issues often times reach a fever pitch.
"It really shows that residents care enough to see what's going on in their town," said Jamie Ross, 35, one of the founders of maplewoodonline.
Some of the gatherings draw as many as 30 residents. Other times, only a handful show up. But let's face it, even these political junkies would rather watch an exciting sporting event than the five-member board drone on about town issues.
Take, for example, the Red Sox-Yankees playoffs series last fall. Not a single person showed up at Here's 2 the Arts on the October night that a crucial Game 6 was played.
And last week, possibly because of the cold weather, only two residents showed up.
One of them was Tucker Lamkin, a resident who usually attends school board meetings religiously.
"Does anyone know what this class-action lawsuit is involving OPRA (Open Public Records Act)?" he asked, flipping through the meeting agenda.
Lamkin, an environmental entrepreneur and self-described school board watchdog, prefers watching the township meetings on television so he can do other things during slow parts of the meeting.
"It's not a blood sport, but it can be a sport," he said.
Katie Wang covers Maplewood. She can be reached at kwang@starledger.com or (973) 392-1504.
Hope it's okay that I posted the whole article.
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Meandtheboys
Citizen
Username: Meandtheboys
Post Number: 93
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 1:20 pm: | |
How did you find your newspaper under all this snow? Didn't get mine and I'm afraid it's buried out there and we won't see it until the spring thaw! |
LibraryLady(ncjanow)
Supporter
Username: Librarylady
Post Number: 2129
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 1:38 pm: | |
My delivery person is amazing. It wasn't too far down in the drift and the bright yellow bag was easy to locate. Good thing it didn;t get sucked into the snow blower!!!
It's a shame that such a great article had to appear on a day most of us won't be able to see it. |
sac
Supporter
Username: Sac
Post Number: 1794
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 2:34 pm: | |
We either didn't get a paper or it is buried in the snow somewhere. It didn't turn up when we cleared the walks ... maybe when the snow melts. |
jamie
Moderator
Username: Jamie
Post Number: 759
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 3:51 pm: | |
The back of my head got in two photos!  |
LibraryLady(ncjanow)
Supporter
Username: Librarylady
Post Number: 2131
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 4:03 pm: | |
I though that was on purpose Jamie..like the Mysterious Comedian or something |
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