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I miss municipal board, council and committee meetings since I no longer cover them. So much so, in fact, that instead of watching a rerun of “The Office” Thursday night, I tuned in to the Canandaigua City Council meeting.
My daughter made the same face you just made when I asked her if she wanted to watch with me.
I have delightful memories of covering board meetings — really, I do.
When I started as a freelancer, for instance, I asked the South Bristol code officer to give me the “geographic coordinates” for a particular parcel of property. All that was required for the story, really, was the street name but I didn’t know that. I wanted to be thorough.
“You mean ... like ... latitude and longitude,” he puzzled.
When I came on board full time, I covered Victor and Farmington meetings. At Farmington meetings, Supervisor Ted Fafinski’s wife, Rosie, brought chocolate for me and for my little daughter, who sometimes accompanied me. At Victor meetings, then-village attorney Bill Kocher would always do a shout-out to the Daily Messenger when I was in attendance by saying something like, “We better watch what we say, the paper is here.” Today, he’s a county judge so I’d just like to emphasize that I always thought he was very funny. And smart.
At Victor Town Board meetings, Jack Richter and Mike Dollard and the rest of the crew were great to work with — even when they were less than thrilled I was pursuing a particular topic. Once a pushy and competitive reporter made his way into Jack’s office after a particularly disconcerting vote that disappointed the administration. The reporter shut the door on me as I was making my way into the office to get a comment. Before I could raise an objection, Richter and Dollard opened the door and made a very public display of including me in the interview.
I took my little daughter to the Victor Town Board meeting several years ago on the night they voted on the mall expansion. When Jack said “All in favor, say ‘aye’,” my daughter, then 7 — now almost 16 — never looked up from her coloring book but raised her hand and clearly and loudly said “Aye!”
I always tell her that with her penchant for shopping, it’s no wonder she voted in favor of that project. Of course, she also learned the phrase “sales tax revenue” at that meeting.
I miss municipal board, council and committee meetings since I no longer cover them. So much so, in fact, that instead of watching a rerun of “The Office” Thursday night, I tuned in to the Canandaigua City Council meeting.
My daughter made the same face you just made when I asked her if she wanted to watch with me.
I have delightful memories of covering board meetings — really, I do.
When I started as a freelancer, for instance, I asked the South Bristol code officer to give me the “geographic coordinates” for a particular parcel of property. All that was required for the story, really, was the street name but I didn’t know that. I wanted to be thorough.
“You mean ... like ... latitude and longitude,” he puzzled.
When I came on board full time, I covered Victor and Farmington meetings. At Farmington meetings, Supervisor Ted Fafinski’s wife, Rosie, brought chocolate for me and for my little daughter, who sometimes accompanied me. At Victor meetings, then-village attorney Bill Kocher would always do a shout-out to the Daily Messenger when I was in attendance by saying something like, “We better watch what we say, the paper is here.” Today, he’s a county judge so I’d just like to emphasize that I always thought he was very funny. And smart.
At Victor Town Board meetings, Jack Richter and Mike Dollard and the rest of the crew were great to work with — even when they were less than thrilled I was pursuing a particular topic. Once a pushy and competitive reporter made his way into Jack’s office after a particularly disconcerting vote that disappointed the administration. The reporter shut the door on me as I was making my way into the office to get a comment. Before I could raise an objection, Richter and Dollard opened the door and made a very public display of including me in the interview.
I took my little daughter to the Victor Town Board meeting several years ago on the night they voted on the mall expansion. When Jack said “All in favor, say ‘aye’,” my daughter, then 7 — now almost 16 — never looked up from her coloring book but raised her hand and clearly and loudly said “Aye!”
I always tell her that with her penchant for shopping, it’s no wonder she voted in favor of that project. Of course, she also learned the phrase “sales tax revenue” at that meeting.
During Thursday’s council meeting on Cable channel 12, the FLTV public access channel, I watched with interest as members of the downtown community spoke out on an issue regarding first-floor instructional — such as dance or music — studios. It was great to see so many people I’ve worked with in the past. It was validating, too, to hear our paper referenced several times regarding everything from the Waterfront Arts Festival to the Farmers Market’s 10th anniversary, volunteer firefighters and downtown safety.
We don’t always agree but we are — and always will be — connected like family. When I watch the council meeting on television, I have a sense, as I did when I covered it as a reporter, of history being made.
I understand that having an affinity for municipal meetings may seem a little weird — and maybe even dorky. But even my daughter, a fashion plate and pop-culture aficionado, would argue that the mall expansion was anything but dorky.
Allison Cooper is managing editor of Messenger Post Media.
