GOV, Brookfield is on the cutting edge of open gov't [BF]

Riverside/Brookfield Landmark (Bob Uphues):

With the arrival of new recording equipment at village hall, citizens and other interested parties will soon have 24-hour access to the voices of their elected officials debating the hot topics of the day. After the Feb. 12 village board meeting, the full audio record will be available in a streaming MP3 format online at the Village of Brookfield website, www.villageofbrookfield.com.

Meanwhile, those who don't have computers can get a CD version of the recording by filling out a Freedom of Information Act form at village hall. Assistant Village Manager Keith Sbiral, who was responsible for purchasing the new recording equipment, said that the village may also provide a way for residents to save the online MP3 files as podcasts, which can be downloaded on the user's iPod.

This will be great for blogging. Citizens can listen to the tapes and refer to the MP3 file along with the times of when someone said something. It will make gov't more transparent.