Councilman Rick Williams and I will host the first televised Town Hall meeting this year. Traditionally, Council members present pictures or video of interests within their districts and then take phone calls from viewers. From my experience, no one is ever in the audience. If anyone was, he would have to write the question on a card and it would be given to the moderator. So, in the sense of the old-fashioned town hall meetings of yesteryear, with the free exchange of questions and answers, this isn't exactly that.
 
In the two previous ones that I participated, there weren't that many questions. There were a lot more ad lib questions from the moderator. (Read: "fill the time" questions.)
 
This is the chance to change history! It's not necessary to wait until the day and time of the broadcast to call and ask questions. Send them in now! Follow that link for a form that allows you to ask multiple questions. Worst case scenario, you miss the broadcast but catch your answer on a re-broadcast or through the video streaming portal at the city's website.
 

City of Garland Press Release:

City Council Town Meeting Broadcasts Scheduled

Garland, Texas -- Garland citizens will be able to ask questions or offer comments to their elected representatives in a series of Town Meeting broadcasts to be aired live on the City’s Government Access Channel, CGTV.
 
The first broadcast is set for Tuesday, August 11, 2009 at 7 p.m., hosted by District 1 City Council Member Douglas Athas and District 7 City Council Member Rick Williams.
 
A call-in format allows residents to ask the Council representatives about issues related to their Districts. Each Council Member will give a “state of the district” report, and then citizens can call 972-205-9035 with their questions and comments. In addition, citizens may submit their questions and comments in advance via the City website at www.ci.garland.tx.us.
 
The schedule for the rest of the City Council Members’ Town Meeting Broadcasts is as follows:

 

September 8, 2009 – Districts 2 & 5
October 13, 2009 – Districts 3 & 4
December 8, 2009 – Districts 6 & 8

 

CGTV is available on Time Warner Cable channel 16 and on Verizon FIOS TV channel 44, or by video streaming from the City website.
 

 
As a reminder, this message will again be posted August 9.