A'town residents deserve to view the good and bad

The last thing any public entity in Austintown needs to be accused of is censorship, but that's exactly what will happen if members of the board of education stick to their short-sighted plan for broadcasting their meetings on the township's public-access television station.
As Vindicator reporter Ian Hill revealed in a story Sunday, the only thing residents will be able to view will be votes cast by the members and comments by school officials made during the regular meetings. In other words, the people who pay the taxes that keep the school system afloat will have to settle for a censored version of what takes place.
For those not familiar with the goings-on of the school board, there's a thing called the work session, which is held just before the regular meeting. This session is open to the public but rarely attracts a crowd. But it is during this period that the real work gets done.
Board members discuss the items on the agenda, voice disagreements and debate controversial issues, but few residents ever observe such democracy at work.
The board of education also does not intend to broadcast comments made by residents at the beginning of the regular meetings. Why?
Casting votes
Because as board member Dr. David Ritchie observed in Hill's story Sunday, residents did not ask to see the public comments or work sessions.
"They want to know what we're voting on at the meetings, so we're going to give them the opportunity to see what our meetings entail."
We wonder how Ritchie and his colleagues arrived at the conclusion that the public only wants a whitewashed version of what is going on.
How many Austintown residents were polled?
The importance of public access to every aspect of the board of education's meetings cannot be overemphasized.
Such access is especially important these days, given the $2.1 million operating deficit next year the board will have to address.
Board members should be encouraging residents of the district to become actively involved, for in the end the public's support for whatever decisions are made will be essential.
The bottom line is this: Openness in government must not be compromised.
Channel 19 is a public-access television station. It is designed to give viewers access to the inner workings of government.
Any form of censorship is unacceptable.