ORDER OF COUNCILLOR JOHN M. TOBIN

WHEREAS: The Boston City Council has been broadcasting committee hearings and regular meetings since September 1996 in order to increase the transparency of city government, providing nearly 2,500 hours of original programming to Boston’s citizens; and

WHEREAS: Recently, the Boston City Council has gone a step further to have its meetings and hearings available on the internet as well as on cable access; and

WHEREAS: The City Council received assistance from the television and cable industries, as well as the college broadcasting training programs, including equipment and training, to make its early broadcasts possible; and

WHEREAS: The City Council recently upgraded its camera system to accommodate digital web casting, leaving the older, but working cameras and other broadcasting equipment available for use; and

WHEREAS: The City Council realizes the fiscal challenge that all departments in the City face, requiring creative re-use of resources; and

WHEREAS: The wealth of the Boston Public Schools programs, like that at Madison Park and other schools, the training and career opportunities presented by the building trades labor unions, the higher education resources of broadcasting located at schools like Emerson College, Boston University and Roxbury Community College, and Boston’s network and cable stations offer a diverse array of potential partners to make this project a reality; Therefore be it

ORDERED: That in the effort to bring increased transparency of School Department policies and issues to the public through the Boston School Committee, the City Council hereby donates its older cameras and broadcasting equipment to the Boston Public Schools for the purpose of facilitating the broadcast of School Committee Hearings and Meetings in the near future, with the option of using the Christopher A. Iannella City Council Chamber in City Hall for hearings and meetings until the appropriate installation and training can be completed at School Department headquarters, with the anticipated support of those entities who worked with the City Council nearly ten years ago.

Filed in City Council: October 19, 2005