Meet Channel 17 Community Producer Phil Lavigne

   Channel 17/Town Meeting TV coverage of community events and meetings is rounded out by the dedicated work of volunteer community producers.  Channel 17 provides people with equipment and editing assistance to produce government and community affairs programs for airing on TV and the web.

Phil Lavigne reports on the Ward 4 and 7 Neighborhood Planning Assembly, he has recorded many many government meetings from the Parks, Arts and Culture Commission to the Burlington Finance Board and created this edited video about Storm Damage on the Burlington Bike Path. 

New North End Resident Greg Roy had this to say about Phil: "I just wanted to express my appreciation to you (Phil) for your willingness to give of your time to make video recordings of various 'obscure' city meetings (i.e. PAC cmte. mtngs., and Board of Finance mtngs.). The ability to watch them on channel 17, as well as on-line has been of great value to myself, as well as many other concerned citizens! I'm sure. It is certainly appreciated by those who can't be at every meeting, but are nonetheless, very interested in what is going on in the city; citizens who may work an unusual shift in the service that they perform for society; people who may be housebound, and literally unable to attend; to name just a few."  

We sat down with Phil to find out more about him and why volunteers at Channel 17/Town Meeting TV. 

When did you start your work with CCTV and Channel 17/Town Meeting TV?
It was a while ago, three years, something like that.

How did you get involved with CCTV?
I was invited to co-host, with Lea Terhune, on the Live at 5:25 show centering on NPA -Ward 4/7 political issues.  It was a lot of fun co-hosting.  We invited folks on to the show to enhance our NPA monthly meetings and folks would call in and ask questions.  We would have people in the community on to talk, like Kurt Wright and other interesting folks with expertise on specific issues like wind power or nuclear energy.

You had a success of sorts doing that show.
It was real successful. I think a lot of people watched our shows which stimulated public interest on community issues.

What about Dale?
Dale would watch the show and call in every month and make statements on how he felt on specific issues.   At some point, Lea figured who he was and invited him to come to our Ward 4/7 NPA meeting.  He came and then got on the steering committee and now he is involved and has become a great community voice.  What Dale brings to the table really challenges people, and through that, creative ideas come out.

Why do you do the work that you do?
I think the public needs to know. The more vehicles open to the public, the more people know. They can decide what to do with that knowledge, they can go to the polls with that knowledge or they can speak out in public.
I am a picture person, most of my learning takes place through things I see and I think there are a lot of people like that out there.  I see first then I hear, then I may write. 
I am a trained portrait artist so I really enjoy faces; they are very intriguing to me, all very different and very beautiful.

What is one thing about local government that you really want other folks to know about?
It is not transparent and we all have to work to make it more transparent.

What are ways that citizens could be more involved in their community?
I think the way our community operates, everything starts on the street level.  I mean NPA (Neighborhood Planning Assemblies), council meetings, board meetings, commission meetings, I would like to see more turnover in the boards and commissions and people getting involved in any aspect of the government they enjoy.

What are your favorite meetings?
I enjoy government meetings that are in the process of solving community problems.  

Can you tell us a challenging or interesting moment that has come about through your involvement as a volunteer video producer? 
Of course, occasionally I will get so wrapped up in meeting content as I am recording that I actually forget that I am operating a camera and then technical problems result; like running out of tape. At one meeting I asked if I could ask some questions; I pointed the camera on the table where I would sit and ask my questions and joined the meeting. When I returned to the camera it was out of tape.

Besides your work here as a volunteer at Channel 17, what do you think people should know about you?
I always have a camera in my pocket. I am always shooting stills of something.
My other community involvement is on the police commission because that is where my expertise is.

I was a community police officer in Ann Arbor, Michigan for over 25 years. It was interesting; I did most everything in police work. My last assignment was as a beat officer and I walked 17 miles of a downtown business district.  I attended 4 merchant meetings every month. There were 350 street people to look after on my beat, a day shelter, a night shelter, 4 churches that provided meal programs for the street people and I worked intensely with these service providers to help relieve the demand that otherwise the routine patrol officers would have to spend dealing with the folks living on the streets.  I hope that my involvement relieved some of the suffering of these folks living on the streets.

So what is a goal of yours on the police commission?
Through my public involvement I hope to be a sounding board for problems, issues and concerns from citizens to the police department.