The Hamblen County Commission has decided to exclude the public comments from the videotape of its meetings, which is shown on a public education channel.

Linda Noe, an attorney in Morristown, posted on her blog her own video of the meeting in which she questioned commissioners about the decision.

In the video, County Mayor Bill Brittain responds to a question from a commissioner about telling the videographer to turn off the equipment when the public comments portion of the meeting started, saying it was “in the best interest of the meeting.”

Later, the commission chairman says that not taping the public comments was a “compromise” to ending the videotaping of the meeting altogether.

Read Noe’s full blog item here: Mayor Brittain Directs That Tapes of Commission Meetings Be Censored To Remove Public Comments