Bob “Boomer” Provencher and Matt Lauzon filmed their first episode of “Meet the Agenda” for Biddeford Public Access Television on Friday morning and are excited about the opportunity to interest and inform citizens about topics to be discussed by city councilors when they conduct meetings every other week.
Provencher is a lifelong resident of Biddeford and says the purpose of the show is to make the public aware of what will be talked about at the next City Council meeting and to provide the backup information for each agenda item.
“This show is not going to be political at all,” he said. “It will be factual and we’re not going to give personal opinions.”
He said the program will be 30 minutes in length and is all about getting citizens involved in government.
“How many people go get the City Council agenda or read it online?” Provencher said. “Our goal is that more will learn about the agenda through this show on television and it will cause them to get involved.”
Lauzon has experience in filming a public access television program and said he welcomes this opportunity.
“I helped create a public access show in high school called ‘Teen Perspectives,'” he said. “We had city officials and students as guests and it fostered a lot of good discussion.”
According to Lauzon, the show will air several times each week prior to the City Council meeting.
“It would be awesome to see more people feel that they understand what’s going on and that they can get involved with government,” he said.
Provencher said the ultimate aim of “Meet the Agenda” is simple.
“Citizens will be encouraged to attend council meetings,” he said.
A discussion between Provencher and Lauzon led to the creation of this new public access show.
“Transparency has always been important to me,” Lauzon said. “When we first talked, we said we can do this or complain about a lack of public participation. I think these kinds of initiatives will help forster more transparency.”
He said that current plans call for the new program to review Biddeford City Council meeting agendas, but if interest warrants, other public meeeting agendas could be covered in the future.
The next Biddeford City Council meeting is set for Tuesday evening and “Meet the Agenda” will air a number of times on Channel 85, Biddeford’s Digital Public Access channel, before the meeting.
Most of the programs that air on Biddeford Public Access are locally produced and include a variety of shows ranging from politics to education. Along with their production support duties, the staff of Biddeford Public Access Television also records more than 165 municipal and school meetings each year for live streaming and pre-recorded broadcasts.
“We’re lucky to have such a great resource in Biddeford and I hope this new ‘Meet the Agenda’ program will help encourage members of the community to get involved,” Lauzon said.
— Executive Editor Ed Pierce can be reached at 282-1535 ext. 326 or by email at editor@journaltribune.com.
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