Jones's 'Town Matters' Brings Montville to the Small Screen (with Video)

Rosetta Jones is an optimist.

Instead of believing a lack of interest keeps Montville people from going to town meetings, Jones believes it’s just the realities of life that keep them away. And so she is doing what she can to foster engagement, in and around those realities.

“Meetings appear to be inconvenient” for people, she says. “I could look at it as deep voter apathy… or you could say ‘Life is really hard, people are facing such hardship, people have jobs and families – what are you going to choose?

“If people cannot come to the meetings, I can take the meetings to the people.”

And so, the “Town Matters” TV show began.

Her mission, she says, in a written statement "is to educate, inform and inspire an inclusive, collective community, through the faces of Montville. Guests will reflect the rich diversity of our town... Native American, European, African American, Latin and Asian will be invited to share their perspectives on issues, such as economics, education, politics, cultural and social issues that impact our lives."

JONES, WHO IS 62 AND RETIRED from a career in the Department of Correction, has experience in government and also in media.

She is unaffiliated now, though as a candidate for the Town Council is endorsed by the Republican and Independence for Montville parties. From 2007-2009, as a Democrat, she served on the Town Council. She is now the chairman of the Board of Assessment Appeals.

Earlier in the year, she was involved in two Freedom of Information actions. In one, she brought the action against a member of the Board of Assessment appeals; that member was cited. In the other, the action was brought against her by councilors Candy Buebendorf and Gary Murphy, acting as citizens. Jones had

Jones had a column, “Ask Rosetta,” in the Montville Times, in which citizens were encouraged to ask her questions. It was part of her ongoing mission to “inform and educate” the citizens of Montville.

Earlier this year, she thought of reviving the idea. She saw on her Metrocast bill that customers were encouraged to create their own shows, and so she applied to start one.

It was a little intimidating, she says, but not too bad. Not only does she have the Montville government experience, but also, she was president of the League of Women Voters, she says, and moderated debates, so she was familiar with the studio, and television set-up.

GUESTS ARE SOME of the movers and shakers of Montville, in and out of government.

She has had . 

She has had .

She has had Jack Platt and William Bucko of the Public Safety Building Committee, also.

The show is structured as a half-hour interview, with questions prepared and given to the guests in advance.

“I really want to show them respect,” she says, “really give them a platform to educate and enlighten our resident on issues on which they have influence.”

JONES WANTS TO DISPEL what she says are preconceived notions of Montville. “If this show can serve as an antidote to the complaints about the town, and show the intelligence that people possess,” she will be happy, she says.

“The times that we’re in dictate the pressure to move in a new direction,” she says. “It’s somewhat of a painful awakening. In order to survive, you have to look to the future and capitalize on new opportunities.”

Fire Marshal Ray Occhialini is scheduled to be taped for the show next Thursday, Jones says. The show featuring him will run on Channel 24 on Monday, Sept. 19, and on Channel 99 anytime, for free, on demand.

Jones hopes that future guests might include Terry Hart, the town’s finance director, and a representative from the tax assessor's office, who would explain the revaluation process and what it's going to mean to Montville.

Jones says there is a candidates night scheduled for Oct. 5 at the high school; she is hoping to have candidates for office on her show in October.

As the only African-American politician in Montville, Jones says that one of her aims with the show is to highlight some of the town’s diversity.

“I want their faces to be seen. I want their voices to be heard.

“I want this to be an inclusive community. Nobody should have to feel foreign in the place you pay taxes.”

Jones says she believes it is her responsibility to make the world better, and “Town Matters” helps do that.

“This is really fun,” she says about the show. “You get to showcase some of the good, and some of the thoughtfulness. It really does inspire hope for the future of our town.”

"Town Matters" runs on various Mondays on Channel 24 and anytime on Channel 99. You can find it in the Events listings in Patch.