‘Transparency is key.’ Why this Centre County man films, posts rural township meetings

Local government meetings in rural Centre County are often sparsely attended, with meeting minutes serving as the only record for what was discussed and what decisions were made.

But for the past five months, Ernie Jenkins has brought his camera to meetings in Benner, Marion and Walker townships to try and change that.

Jenkins, 64, is a Walker Township resident who was elected the township’s constable in 2023. Constables serve a variety of functions including preserving the peace at polling stations during elections, but in his personal capacity, Jenkins records and posts meetings from the municipalities, which aren’t members of C-NET. He uploads them onto his Rumble channel, Constable News Now.

Jenkins started this practice when a group of Benner Township residents who were concerned about the lack of transparency in their municipality requested that he record the township’s Aug. 4 meeting and post it online. He happily obliged, creating a video record of the meeting where a contentious campground plan, among other items, were discussed.

In the months that followed, Jenkins started recording Marion and Walker township meetings, and has continued to post all three to his channel.

“Transparency is key — it’s what all of my videos are for, and it’s even in my logo as ‘palatable transparency,’” Jenkins told the CDT earlier this month. “Not every constituent can go to these meetings to keep themselves informed — they physically and logically can’t too, since there aren’t enough chairs, so I figured that there should be another resource out there.”

Learning about local government

His motivation to record these meetings stems from multiple catalysts, with the earliest being a love for cinematography. He spent a year in the early 1980s studying film production at Penn State, which he said was —and still is to an extent— one of his many passions.

That passion took Jenkins to Hollywood to pursue a movie making career, but after a few years in the Golden State, he returned home to start a family and eventually began working as a trucker. That career came to an abrupt halt in 2019 when he sustained a heel bone injury on the job.

During his 18-month recovery period, he started thinking of other career ideas, of which two stuck — get his constableship, and begin making videos.

Jenkins’ recovery period also sparked an interest in local government, as he started attending his local Walker Township meetings. There, he learned about how municipal government works, and even started a successful petition to get to the speed limit lowered near the Marion-Walker Elementary School.

“I spent my whole life not knowing how these meetings worked until just recently, and I think it’s a key thing for people to see what’s going on at these meetings, where the officials can literally make decisions that impact you on a day-to-day basis,” he said.

Jenkins’ most recent approach in the pursuit of transparency comes at a time when there happens to be important issues unfolding in the townships he covers.

In Benner Township, a recent resignation led to the appointment of a new supervisor, and concerns have been raised about the supervisors’ health insurance policies as PFAS contamination remains an ongoing issue. In Marion Township, officials are in the midst of a large rezoning project brought about by the proposal of a publically-opposed Onvo truck stop.

Filling a void

While many local government meetings are filmed and broadcast by C-NET, the government and educational access network for Centre County, the ones Jenkins goes to are not. Some residents have pushed for the municipalities to add the service though. In December 2024, Benner Township resident R. Thomas Berner even attempted to provide the supervisors with a $10,029 check to pay for CNET services in the township, but it was ultimately shot down without a vote.

Another effort to bring transparency to local government meetings in recent years is Centre Documenters. Run by the News Lab at Penn State, trained documenters provide notes and audio files from meetings in Benner, College, Gregg, Halfmoon, Snow Shoe and Spring townships.

Feedback from residents who see Jenkins filming has been “pretty positive for the most part,” he said.

On the other hand, not all supervisors have embraced Jenkins’ filming. Under the Sunshine Act, residents are legally allowed to record and publish the meetings — something Milesburg Borough officials learned in March 2024 when the municipality attempted to require that permission be attained before recording.

“I don’t really condone it, but he’s allowed to be here and do his thing,” Benner Township Supervisor Randy Moyer told the CDT Monday. “I’ve never seen [the videos], so I don’t even know what’s edited, maybe it is and maybe it’s not, but I just hope it’s fair. I hope he’s square with it.”

Jenkins said the only editing he does to the videos is to give them a thumbnail, description and “like and subscribe” image. The meetings themselves are left untouched, he said, and typically uploaded to his page the next day.

As Jenkins’ page continues to grow, he has his sights set on several goals for the future, including making longer, explanatory videos that go into detail about the aspects of local government and various local issues, creating a YouTube channel and covering school board meetings.

One of his primary goals though is the monetization of his channel, as he currently funds everything out of his own pocket, including equipment and gas, and has invested many hours into going to the meetings.

“I’m not doing this to make money,” Jenkins said. “Now I have had people contribute, I have had people that appreciate what I’m doing, which I also appreciate, but it’s been nothing to where it supports [the channel]. At some point it’s going to have to be supported, but at this point, I’m doing it myself.”

Jenkins is also seeking volunteers to help record meetings in the event that he is unable to be there for one.

Anyone interested in helping Jenkins record can contact him by emailing constableerniejenkins@gmail.com, or by calling or texting him at 814-574-8494.