Sat through a 2 hour "government transparency" town hall and came out more skeptical than ever

They spent the whole time talking about budgets and zoning laws, but when someone asked about the drone sightings over the reservoir last month? Instant subject change. Then the councilman's "aide" (who I swear was just a guy they pulled from the hallway) started talking about weather balloons. I compared the official meeting minutes from that night to a recording I took on my phone, and three whole questions and answers are just missing from the written record. How is anyone supposed to trust this stuff when they can't even be honest about what was said? Has anyone else compared public transcripts to audio from a town hall and found gaps?

2 comments

2 Comments

fisher.adam6d ago

Used to think these conspiracy types were just paranoid, your mileage may vary but this actually changed my mind. A buddy of mine showed me his recording from a school board meeting and the official minutes had five questions completely removed, including one where a parent asked about a data breach. Weather balloons, the aide kept saying weather balloons. Seen it happen twice now in different towns, makes you wonder what else is getting scrubbed. Take this with a grain of salt but I'm bringing my own recorder to every public meeting from now on.

claire_wells876d ago

My town had the exact same thing happen at a library board meeting back in March. Three questions about a budget shortfall got cut from the official transcripts but I have the whole thing on my phone. The clerk kept saying "technical difficulties" every time someone brought up the missing money. I've started recording everything now too, it's the only way to know what actually happened.