It is important that the Ocean City Planning Board is working up procedures for citizens to video record its meetings. We hope a comprehensive policy, that should be unveiled by its first meeting in March, will be a step forward for the board, those who appear before it and interested citizens.
We also hope these guidelines, if fair and applicable, are adopted by the other boards and commissions in Ocean City.
Under state law citizens have been able to video record these public meetings, but they haven’t always been welcomed when they tried. Pulling out a cell phone to privately document what is going on with a public board can be seen as both a disruptive and antagonistic act, but it doesn’t have to be either.
A guide by the American Civil Liberties Union on the open public meetings law indicates boards can adopt policies that restrict recording so it does not disrupt meetings. That can include requiring citizens to sign up in advance, limit the number of people recording and cameras or cell phones as well as their positions, lighting and location. Planning Board Chairman John Loeper told the Sentinel those are among the guidelines the board is incorporating into its policy.
That is fair.
Having a clear policy in place can turn video recording into a routine procedure.
Years ago, Ocean City Council members and the administration fought against having their meetings recorded on video. When the late Jack Bryson, a political gadfly who died in 2006, showed up with a video camera in council chambers and tried to tape a meeting, police escorted him out. (We were there to watch and capture that in a still photo.)
That was a time of particularly fraught relations between elected officials and a citizens group, but eventually council relented. Now, the recording of council meetings is so professionally done and clear that watching the recordings can be better than attending the meetings because it is easy to rewind to listen to things again … or fast forward. Unless you want to speak during public comment. You have to show up for that.
The timing for this policy is right because there are potentially major issues that could arise in the near future dealing with the former Wonderland Pier amusement park and proposal to replace it with a large boardwalk hotel.
Developer Eustace Mita has gone an entirely public route with his plans, conducting multiple open meetings with presentations and the chance for citizens to ask him questions. He hasn’t, however, made a formal application, which could include requesting a redevelopment zone for the beach-front property. Mita also said he would consider selling the property if he isn’t able to build his hotel.
Whether Mita makes a formal attempt to go the redevelopment route or an alternate to build a hotel, which currently isn’t allowed on the site, or sells the property and some other entity comes in with its own plans, an application could end up appearing before city boards. Although the meetings are open to the public, those aren’t officially video recorded and readily accessible as council meetings.
The time is now to ensure citizens will feel confident in their ability to not only witness what happens in those meetings, but to document it for themselves and share it if they choose.
Fair or not, there is a level of distrust among citizens with government entities in general and, on this island in particular, with boards that have a say in development. Codifying citizens rights with regard to recording these meetings may help alleviate that.
