Doug Champ
The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities is working on getting its Board meetings livestreamed, but not quick enough for some folks.
Citizen Doug Champ, speaking at Jamestown City Council‘s Privilege of the Floor, said he was told by the BPU that they’re testing out a new system. He said he doesn’t understand why they need to test anything and accused Mayor Eddie Sundquist, who sits on the BPU Board, and the rest of the board of refusing to accept the need to stream meetings.
Champ said ratepayers deserve to know how the BPU is spending its money, “The Jamestown BPU must be fully prepared and its ratepayers must be fully informed and engaged to know the impacts and all the associated costs from these New York State driven programs, both now and into the future. Our utility ratepayers need an opportunity to learn and understand what the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities is doing about these issues and how it will impact their electric costs.”
Council member at large Jeff Russell, who is on the BPU board, rebutted Champ’s comments, “Mr. Champ wants to sound as if there’s something nefarious going on with the BPU Board, that we don’t want to share information or we’re not transparent. That can’t be further from the truth. I think what it is is that Mr. Champ.. things aren’t happening fast enough for Mr. Champ regarding the televising or livestreaming the board meetings. They are happening and that happened this evening. They are being tested.”
Russell said he’s heard no opposition to streaming the meetings from the board. He said the board wants to make sure the streaming is done correctly with good quality as opposed to simply using a tablet or cell phone to stream.
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