Most of the information that citizens use concerning Greenwich, Connecticut policy and politics comes from the local media outlets. This forum endeavours to provide a more complete set of viewpoints on current issues in town. The authors are local residents who hope to provide insight into how decisions made in the town will affect all of its citizens. Others are welcome to comment. The only rules are no personal attacks on anyone and back up your opinion with verifiable facts.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Non-Public Public Meetings

In case anyone noticed, there was a Board of Selectmen meeting held at Town Hall on Thursday, January 4th. What was discussed and what was on the agenda remains shouded in mystery. The notice of this meeting must have been posted legally in the Town Clerk's office in accordance with the Freedom of Information laws in Connecticut. But how exactly could the notice of this public meeting be available to the public & citizens?

A public meeting must be noticed, in writing, twenty-four hours in advance. The notice must be posted in a public place available for anyone to view. The problem for public meetings in Greenwich is the notice board is inside the Town Clerk's office. The clerk's office is open from 8:00am to 4:00pm. With the citizens at work during those hours, and many of them commuting to their workplaces, how would this large segment of the public see that notice?

The Town Hall building is open most evenings for meetings and other events. During this time, however, the public notice board is shuttered behind closed doors, unviewable. Wouldn't it be a simple solution to place the notice board in a locked case in the lobby of Town Hall?

With only a twenty-four hour notice requirement, the local print media could not (in most cases) print the notification in their respective papers. For many, the notice would be posted past their deadlines. While legally this is acceptable, the intent of the law is to make sure the public knows about the meeting.

The Town has a website which would provide instant availability of these notices to those who have a computer and access to the internet. In fact, the computers in the public libraries are a resource that can be used by anyone to view the Town website. However, the meeting notice was never posted on the Town's website. Nor was the meeting agenda. Nor are the minutes of this meeting available. While this is not legally required, why not post it? There is no cost to doing so, and it only takes a few moments. In fact, the Board of Selectmen 2007 meeting schedule does not even list the aforementioned meeting.

Currently, any citizen can request written notification of any public meeting. However, by the time the written notice reached the citizen by US Mail, the meeting would have been held. With an Information Technology department budget surpassing $1 million, why is it that electronic mail notifications of public meetings cannot be accomplished?

In the past, many of the participants in Town government were citizens and residents who were able to travel to Town Hall on a regular basis. They could scan the notices and see what meetings were upcoming. However, today most members of Greenwich's citizen government do not have the luxury of getting to Town Hall before 4:00pm to view the public notices. What this means to the citizens is that the goal of open and transparent government embodied in the Freedom of Information laws is not realized in a practical manner in Greenwich. Why not? None of the above suggestions is overly expensive or impractical. Many smaller and more financially strapped communities provide public meeting information using all of the above methods as a matter of course. Surely Greenwich, with all of the resources available to it, can too.

Sunday, January 7, 2007

Pandora's Box

First Selectman Jim Lash has opined that he may convene a charter revision commission to revive the creation of a chartered Town Administrator position in Greenwich. As our local charter does not enumerate anything concerning charter revision commissions, the Connecticut General Statutes prevail. The statutes (§7-190) have the details of how such a commission is formed, and how the members are appointed. In any case, the members are appointed by the Board of Selectmen, and are tasked by them. However, in §7-190(b), the statute continues also says, "The commission may also consider other items for inclusion in the proposed charter, other changes to the charter or home rule ordinance and such other items as it deems desirable or necessary." While the Board of Selectmen may charge the charter revision commission with a single task, to create a Town Administrator position, the commission may also make other recommendations. This may have some unintended consequences beyond what the Board of Selectmen envisioned.

Additionally, Mr. Lash stated that Mr. Fox, the Town's legal counsel, has determined that such a commission would not remove the ability of the RTM or the BET to continue to alter the Town's charter in the manner it has in the recent past. On the GCTV program "The Word in Greenwich: Time for a Change", Tom Byrne, Moderator of the RTM, stated that Mr. Fox believed such a commission would remove the RTM and BET's ability to change the charter. So which is it? Why has Mr. Fox's opinion changed?

Lastly, an editorial in the Greenwich Time stated "... there is a lot to be said for leaving charter changes to the voters ..." The editorial went on to state that elections for the RTM are not competitive, and the members of the BET are effectively appointed by the two political party committees, the Democratic Town Committee and the Republican Town Committee. One could also add the Board of Education to the above list. But rather than changing the charter to make the elections more competitive, it would be more effective to explain to the citizens of Greenwich that any elector can place themselves on the ballot for any of the above elected positions. A candidate need not be nominated by either political town committee, but by petition of electors. Perhaps if more citizens understood how their town government is nominated and elected, the question of competition would be a moot point.