By Patrick White
When the Chair announced on June 5 that her desire to remain the Chair was so that she could continue to learn, I might suggest this as a teachable moment: embrace transparency and public dialog.
There’s been some discussion of how to celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday. Here are but of a few of dozens of quotes from leaders of that era:
“The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.”
– Patrick Henry
“A popular government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy; or, perhaps both.”
– James Madison
I would add to that a quote from a 20th century Supreme Court justice:
“Sunshine is the best disinfectant.”
– Louis Brandeis
Many of us worked for many years to ensure that “the town’s in great shape” — taxes are low and the roads are paved. This is about process, not policy. It’s about encouraging, not discouraging, public participation in their own governance. Local small-town government is the last vestige of pure democracy in this country. It should be participatory, the people must be allowed to be involved.
What will the Board do if folks just start showing up and do not limit their words to agenda items? Call in the constable? If that’s the case, the Finance Committee might want to add some more police officers and perhaps an expansion of the jail to the town budget. We might just need the extra help and extra space.
The Chair proclaimed she wanted to stay as chair to learn. Well, this is a teachable moment: embrace transparency. Allow the public to speak at the beginning of meetings. Stop hiding behind legalese to justify a dumb policy. Get answers and put those discussions on future meetings. You work for the people, not the other way around. Make your 3 minute meetings 30 minutes by adding robust public discussion on whatever topics your employers, the citizens of this town, want to discuss. Who knows? You just might learn something.
