For the past few weeks, Harvard Cable TV has been broadcasting meetings of the town's Finance Committee. This is new. Typically, Harvard Cable broadcasts meetings of the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee, but does not usually have the staff available to record and televise the meetings of other town boards.

A Cable Committee official tells us the reason the Finance Committee is now being aired is because a member of that committee volunteered to be trained in the operation of the video recording system in the Town Hall Meeting Room. Although, when operated this way, the video feed does not include the cuts and multiple camera angles it does when a Harvard Cable staff member operates the system, viewers get an adequate amount of audio and video to follow the meeting.

We applaud the volunteer from the Finance Committee for taking the time to receive this training and, during this important budget season, making the committee's deliberations open to the public through cable broadcasting. We encourage other boards in town to seek similar training.

Town board meetings, which usually take place in the evening or early morning, can be hard to fit into the schedule of an average town resident. By pushing to air their meetings on cable, boards can overcome that barrier, especially now that many cable customers have TiVo or other digital recording equipment, enabling them to watch the meetings at their convenience and fast forward through the slow parts (a luxury those who attend the meetings in person don't enjoy).

In addition to helping the town government become more open to its residents, this will also help Harvard Cable TV become a valuable asset to the town and a trusted resource for those interested in local affairs.