By a 4-1 vote, the city council decided to keep audio recordings of City Council and Planning and Zoning meetings only until the official written minutes are approved.
In 2009, after citizens complained some of the official meeting minutes did not match their recollections of what actually happened (click) -- the previous city council voted to make audio recordings and keep them for 5 years.
Council member Brewer was the sole dissenting vote -- proposing instead the recordings be kept for the term of the 4 year council, as is done in Orange Beach.
Brewer: "Why wouldn't that be an option, as opposed to just deleting them altogether ... ."
NO REASON GIVEN
Councilmember Burrell asked why city staff would like to make the changes: "This resolution doesn't bother me ... whether we keep them 4, 5 years or destroy them ... I don't have anything to hide ... but, I would like to know ... why exactly ... staff ... would like to have this approved ... ."
There was no audible response.
A source at city hall says the recordings are rarely if ever used and the recording device often malfunctions
(The Times has learned there may be a renewed effort to televise meetings on the local cable TV access channel, or the Internet.)
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