To the Editor:
I think that the Town Board should return to the practice of verbatim minutes as they did in the past. Technology has changed almost everything in daily life. The fact that residents can see a Town Board meeting on Zoom and even participate from their homes is amazing. If the resident misses a meeting, a video of the entire meeting is available the next day. All of this is great.
However, even in this modern world, the old way of also keeping a paper document is warranted. It is a safety net of sorts and safeguards the historical record. Technology is not perfect. Companies that offer these hosting services to municipalities come and go. These companies change management and services. Things can get lost or take hours and hours to search, often with no result. Apparently, the town can’t display videos taken at 200 Howell Avenue on its website because its contract with the former host ended. Verbatim minutes, both published online on the town website and a paper copy stored, would be better for all concerned. We would still have a record of what occurred.
There are AI programs available to transcribe minutes quickly and inexpensively. I ask our Town Board to investigate that. As it stands now, the town is not required to provide verbatim minutes under New York meeting law. So, it is a choice that the town made to stop verbatim minutes. Up until a few years ago, we had verbatim minutes as well as videos.
Detailed minutes are a resource for tracking issues. Minutes are easier to use when researching a specific topic because it is speedier and more efficient than going to the video and going fast forward and then going back again until what is wanted is located. In addition, I worry that our videos may disappear when a host company changes as stated previously.
I hope the board looks at this and publicly comments pro or con with reasons as to their choice. I believe the residents of Riverhead would appreciate access to verbatim minutes. We had them before. It was a Riverhead tradition. Can we have them again?
Sallie Donnellan
Baiting Hollow
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