Mahwah Council Discusses Televising Meetings

Officials are considering televising public meetings, an issue that has come up again and again but has never materialized.

Councilman Jonathan Wong brought the idea up at a council meeting June 11, NorthJersey.com reported.

Wong said that the primary reasons for considering the move again are transparency in government and increasing community participation at meetings, the website reported; older residents, in particular, would benefit.

Meetings were televised years ago but that stopped because it discouraged residents from speaking out on issues, Councilwoman Lisa DiGiulio said at the meeting, the website reported.

Councilwoman Janet Ariemma was quoted by the website that she thought that televising the meetings could turn them into a “reality show” because of the relationship between council members and Mayor William Laforet.

A privately-recorded video of Coucnilwoman Lisa DiGiulio calling the mayor a ”piece of [expletive] and making an inappropriate hand gesture during a meeting earlier this year went viral on YouTube.