Sean Mill over at TheLiberalOC.com has been trumpeting  -- here and here -- the Santa Ana Council's impending creation of an ad hoc committee to "review the current council meeting structure including television and other media access."

That's good news in the wake of the smothering of Councilwoman Michele Martinez's proposal to broadcast all councilmeetings on cable and the Internet, and establish a searchable online archive of council meetings.

But does any serious person believe this ad hoc committee is anything but a reaction to the negative coverage -- beginning in the OC blogosphere and followed by the mainstream media -- of the Santa Ana Council's resistance to making council business accessible to the public? And because the committee's creation arises for reactive rather than proactive reasons, it will be necessary for the blogs and the MSM to keep a close eye on its progress or lack thereof.

But Mill's take on the ad hoc committee and Michele Martinez's proposals have a through-the-looking-glass quality. He slams Councilwoman Martinez's proposal as being "too simplistic and too restrictive and thus got no support from her colleagues."

What complete and utter nonsense.

Martinez's proposal would merely have led to Santa Ana Council to do what a growing number of city councils have been doing for some time: broadcasting their meetings on cable and the Internet and establishing a permanent online video archive of those meetings. How is that "too restrictive"? What would it prevent them from doing? It's certainly not "too restrictive" for anyone trying to find out what Santa Ana councilmembers have said and how they have voted.

As for the "too simplistic" slur: what does that even mean? Does Mill prefer Martinez had proposed something complicated?

Martinez's proposal didn't chart new territory in municipal government. Her council colleagues know perfectly well this technology is available, affordable and works. Councilwoman Claudia Alvarez knows perfectly well the technology exists. So does Councilman Carlos Bustamante, who is a senior manager at the County of Orange where the Board of Supervisors already established the sort of broadcast regime suggested by Martinez. And Mayor Pulido excuse about subjecting his poor, novice colleagues to public scrutiny was just laughable.

There was nothing to stop Martinez's six colleagues from adopting her proposal, which was a solid foundation for expanding public access to the business of city government.

If Councilwoman Martinez's proposal had died a quiet death, there would be no ad hoc committee. So thanks, Sean Mill, for whatever role you played in prodding Councilman Sal Tinajero into placing this 85A item on the agenda, but cease the uncalled potshots at the person who started this ball rolling in the first place, Councilwoman Martinez.