by Geoffrey Belinfante, External Relations Committee, Chair
Once again, this year, JAG will have a presence at the New Jersey League of Municipalities Conference in Atlantic City from November 17th through November 19th. Our attendance there includes a booth on the convention floor and the sponsorship of two workshops that are presented jointly with the endorsement of the League.
We find our presence at the Conference truly important to the image of JAG and affects the way we are perceived in the state. Most municipalities are members of the League and, by appearing at their convention and presenting workshops that are jointly sponsored with the League, JAG helps solidify its responsibility as an organization with expertise on matters that pertain to municipalities and their relationships with cable operators, wireless carriers, large telecoms and the legislators in Trenton and Washington.
Our first workshop concerns the ongoing issue of Closed Captioning. Although the dates for compliance have been delayed for a year or two depending on the size of the municipality, this is an issue that involves many municipal employees including IT professionals, Public Information Officers, and Senior Services coordinators just to name a few. Noncompliance is not an option and, as the time grows closer, many questions about what is required still remain unclear, particularly when it comes to what needs to be captioned from your archives and what is required when it comes to the audio descriptions of programs.
This workshop will offer the latest information coming from Washington regarding many of the unintended consequences of this well-meaning legislation. This workshop features past JAG president and the station manager of our JAG affiliate in Bloomfield, WBMA-TV, Bob Duthaler and JAG’s Washington Attorney, Gerry Leaderer. It takes place at 2:00pm on Tuesday November 17th in rooms 405/406 at the Atlantic City Convention Center. Please let the appropriate people who are attending from your town know about this workshop.
Our second workshop deals with the federal government’s attempt to usurp the rights of local municipalities to regulate their own rights of way. This is an obvious attempt to undercut local controls that have traditionally fallen to municipalities. This includes the ability of towns to regulate what goes on the poles along their roadways and the fees that telecommunication companies pay for the right to use those poles. Clearly, this is an assault from Washington on fees that help support Municipalities and, in many cases, a portion of those fees are used to support the stations that make up JAG’s membership.
Hosted by our own president Doug Seidel and featuring our JAG Washington Attorney, Gerry Leaderer, and Piscataway Mayor, Brian Wahler, this important workshop will take place at 10:45am on Wednesday, November 14th in Room 316 at the Atlantic City Convention Center. As with our Closed Captioning workshop, we would ask you or any member of your municipal staff attending the conference to consider joining us at this important session.
While our role in presenting workshops at the conference seems obvious in terms of our mission, we are also pleased to once again have a booth on the floor of the convention. Our booth provides us with three opportunities. First, it serves to remind all attendees of our importance as a resource for municipalities—no matter their size. Second, it provides us with a chance to meet and greet the mayors and council members from the communities who are already JAG members, and finally, it allows us to pitch membership to communities who are looking to improve their communications to their residents. Over the years, the messaging has changed. It used to be that we would promote the establishment of a cable channel, and, while this is still something we can facilitate, today, we recognize that there are less expensive streaming options available via the internet and/or streaming platforms that can fulfill the needs of smaller municipalities. We will be in booth 256 on the convention floor, November 17th & 18th 9:00am-5:00pm, and November 19th 9:00am-12:00pm and once again we would encourage anyone who may be attending to drop by and say hello.
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The League of Municipalities Conference and JAG: Perfect Together
Posted: October 17, 2026 by Rich Desimone
by Geoffrey Belinfante, External Relations Committee, Chair
Once again, this year, JAG will have a presence at the New Jersey League of Municipalities Conference in Atlantic City from November 17th through November 19th. Our attendance there includes a booth on the convention floor and the sponsorship of two workshops that are presented jointly with the endorsement of the League.
We find our presence at the Conference truly important to the image of JAG and affects the way we are perceived in the state. Most municipalities are members of the League and, by appearing at their convention and presenting workshops that are jointly sponsored with the League, JAG helps solidify its responsibility as an organization with expertise on matters that pertain to municipalities and their relationships with cable operators, wireless carriers, large telecoms and the legislators in Trenton and Washington.
Our first workshop concerns the ongoing issue of Closed Captioning. Although the dates for compliance have been delayed for a year or two depending on the size of the municipality, this is an issue that involves many municipal employees including IT professionals, Public Information Officers, and Senior Services coordinators just to name a few. Noncompliance is not an option and, as the time grows closer, many questions about what is required still remain unclear, particularly when it comes to what needs to be captioned from your archives and what is required when it comes to the audio descriptions of programs.
This workshop will offer the latest information coming from Washington regarding many of the unintended consequences of this well-meaning legislation. This workshop features past JAG president and the station manager of our JAG affiliate in Bloomfield, WBMA-TV, Bob Duthaler and JAG’s Washington Attorney, Gerry Leaderer. It takes place at 2:00pm on Tuesday November 17th in rooms 405/406 at the Atlantic City Convention Center. Please let the appropriate people who are attending from your town know about this workshop.
Our second workshop deals with the federal government’s attempt to usurp the rights of local municipalities to regulate their own rights of way. This is an obvious attempt to undercut local controls that have traditionally fallen to municipalities. This includes the ability of towns to regulate what goes on the poles along their roadways and the fees that telecommunication companies pay for the right to use those poles. Clearly, this is an assault from Washington on fees that help support Municipalities and, in many cases, a portion of those fees are used to support the stations that make up JAG’s membership.
Hosted by our own president Doug Seidel and featuring our JAG Washington Attorney, Gerry Leaderer, and Piscataway Mayor, Brian Wahler, this important workshop will take place at 10:45am on Wednesday, November 14th in Room 316 at the Atlantic City Convention Center. As with our Closed Captioning workshop, we would ask you or any member of your municipal staff attending the conference to consider joining us at this important session.
While our role in presenting workshops at the conference seems obvious in terms of our mission, we are also pleased to once again have a booth on the floor of the convention. Our booth provides us with three opportunities. First, it serves to remind all attendees of our importance as a resource for municipalities—no matter their size. Second, it provides us with a chance to meet and greet the mayors and council members from the communities who are already JAG members, and finally, it allows us to pitch membership to communities who are looking to improve their communications to their residents. Over the years, the messaging has changed. It used to be that we would promote the establishment of a cable channel, and, while this is still something we can facilitate, today, we recognize that there are less expensive streaming options available via the internet and/or streaming platforms that can fulfill the needs of smaller municipalities. We will be in booth 256 on the convention floor, November 17th & 18th 9:00am-5:00pm, and November 19th 9:00am-12:00pm and once again we would encourage anyone who may be attending to drop by and say hello.
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Category: Committee Profile, Latest JAG News