Last night's meeting was principally to approve the 2009-2010 capital budget. This approval meeting is part of the new budget process. It was approved with only one question from the community. In April 2008 Michael Marran said
"It would be helpful for the council to spend time outside the budget discussing those items. They are things taxpayers are legitimately concerned about," Marran said. "But it’s absolutely overwhelming for an individual to do what Steve [Alfred, the town manager] takes six months to deal with."in the South County Independent's article Budget draws scant interest
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2 comments:
Andrew -
Great job! As someone who over the last few years has diligently worked to have people informed and get people involved (with mixed success), I applaud your effort to shake the Town Council into looking and doing things in a different way. It is too easy for them to keep things in 'cruise control' and not truly try to engage the community in a meaningful way. At a minimum your ideas deserve study. Others have brought forward the need for further discussion to get people engaged (Kermes, Marran) and no action has been taken. Without meaningful input, the stance of our leaders is that all the good ideas exist only behind their bench, and within the Town Hall.
Did Council President Kathy Fogarty strike you as mocking, when she encouraged people to attend because the seating is comfortable and the lighting is good, etc. It struck me in that manner, and, if so others, it is actually a step backward in having people feel that their participation matters.
Keep at it! I'm glad somebody else is willing to carry the light.
Jonathan Daly-LaBelle
741-3820
jdl@rihomesearch.com
I agree that Kathy Fogarty missed an opportunity to make the community aware of what would be happening at the next council meeting.
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