Introduction: I heard a man say he was disgusted that people do not care enough to get involved in their own government. I think we care enough, but maybe we don’t know enough. We all shy away from jumping in if we don’t know how the game is played.
Stockbridge Updates is presenting a four-part series, The Government Tutorial: How Our Local Government Works. All four parts will be available on You Tube, at CTSBTV.org, and in your issue of Stockbridge Updates. The parts will be presented by the best and the brightest. We will learn from a prominent municipal attorney, one of the most popular members of a local select board, and a top town administrator. In the fourth segment, it will be our turn to tell what we learned and what we still want to know.
Welcome to the SU tutorial on government.
Key Take Aways from Session One Jeremia Pollard is Town Counsel to eight of the eighteen South County towns plus one municipality in Hampshire County. He knows his stuff and he has seen it all. The tape runs just over 27 minutes. Here are a few of the key points Jeremia made:
If you want to know something, suggest something, or complain about something, go to the proper department. Potholes? That’s the Highway Department (HD), call the Super of HD. Public Safety? Call the Police Chief. Question about fireproofing? Call the Fire Chief. Taxes? Town Assessor.
No need to call a Select Board member or Town Administrator first. Call the department first, if there is no response or not the hoped for response, then kick it upstairs.
Ask to have your concern put on the SB agenda. If it is not put on the agenda – that is the purview of SB Chair — share the concern in the public comment period. That’s what it is there for.
The Select Board is the Executive. Town Administrator is executive staff. Approximately 100 volunteers and elected town officials are in the executive branch serving on our commissions, boards, and committees. The SB is the boss of all 100, that is, the SB hires and fires all employees and appoints the members of the volunteer committees.
Who are we? The voters are the legislature. Just like in Washington D.C. the legislature approves spending. Yup, that’s right. We can’t complain about spending because if we don’t approve it, then the executive branch can’t spend it. Never underestimate your power as a voter.
Never miss Town Meeting. We control the purse strings – exercise your authority. Sure, just like in Washington D.C., the Executive branch can overstep, but we have the power to control that too.
In the voting booth and at Town Meeting, we the people empower them, and they represent us. If they aren’t listening, there are solutions. So at Town Meeting, SB meetings, and committee meetings, show up and speak up.
Tune in next time – Meet Lee Select Board Member Bob Jones