Town Council Minutes' Format Matter
Dec. 2005 - Jan. 2006
Wethersfield, CT
Public Comments On-line
of
Kenneth Sokolowski
Comments on an on-line forum on 12/29/2005
Missing Minutes & Public's Right to Know
« Reply #32 on Dec 29, 2005, 6:30am »
I believe it was oldetowne who raised the point that this current "minutes" matter and "format" change could be just the tip of an embarrassing administrative nightmare - boards and commissions routinely not completing and submitting to the Clerk the requisite (at a maximum) 48-hour "motions and votes" list (which the Clerk is currently trying to pass off as "minutes") to be followed (within seven days) the inclusive, true minutes of regular meetings of the various boards and commissions, including the Town Council and the Board of Education (which hasn't even been discussed here so far).
I visited the the Town's website and extracted from its page involving appointments to B&C's the following partial list. (I have not included here those entries which did not seem fitting - such as harbor master, fence viewers, municipal agents, etc.). Please pardon the ALL CAPS since they they were used on the Town's website as subheadings for the listed appointees.
Appointed Officials Ad Hoc & Standing Committees (partial list)
As of December 19, 2005
taken from
http://wethersfieldct.com/clerk/appointments.html
12/29/2005
- ARTIFICIAL SURFACE FOOTBALL FIELD ADVISORY COMMITTEE
- ASSESSMENT APPEALS, BOARD OF
- BUILDING COMMITTEE, TOWN HALL/LIBRARY II
- BUILDING APPEALS, Board of
- CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
- CITATION HEARING BOARD
- CONSERVATION COMMISSION
- CULTURE AND THE ARTS, Committee on
- DESIGN REVIEW ADVISORY COMMITTEE
- DISABILITIES, WETHERSFIELD ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR PEOPLE WITH
- ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND IMPROVEMENT COMMISSION
- EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE COMMITTEE
- ETHICS, Board of
- FAIR RENT COMMISSION
- FLOOD & EROSION CONTROL BOARD
- HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION
- HOUSING AUTHORITY
- HUMAN RIGHTS AND RELATIONS COMMISSION
- INFORMATION & TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE
- INLAND WETLANDS AND WATER COURSES COMMISSION
- INSURANCE COMMITTEE
- LIBRARY BOARD OF DIRECTORS
- PARKS & RECREATION BOARD
- PERSONNEL APPEALS BOARD
- PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION
- SENIOR CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
- SHADE TREE COMMISSION
- SILAS DEANE HIGHWAY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
- SOLOMON WELLES HOUSE COMMITTEE
- STRATEGIC PLAN COMMITTEE
- TOURISM COMMISSION
- VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS' PENSION COMMITTEE
- YOUTH ADVISORY BOARD
- ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
To help the public understand the extent of non-compliance with the FOIC/CGS statutes and regulations on the part of the Town, it might be a good idea to
"FOI" the Town via the Clerk and the Manager, to produce a complete list (as of this moment) of such delinquent B&C's that are have not submitted their minutes to the Clerk YET,
indicating the number of such missing minutes per B-or-C, and indicating the number of days that such missing minutes are now in non-compliance with State regulations.
Since the Clerk has brought up the issue of the difficulty for various responsible parties in the administration and in each of the B&C's to create and submit minutes of meeting in the required, timely fashion to the Clerk, the public has a right to know the extent of the purported problem.
The Clerk and the Manager have yet to provide the Council and the Public any detailed or itemized public information backing up this allegation.
Nonetheless, this sounds like an administrative problem that should not be foisted off on the public in the form of an easy way out of their current dilemma especially at the expense of expunging by exclusion important elements of what transpires in meetings of those B&C's.
Maybe it is time for the town administration to take the responsible members ("secretary", "clerk", or even the Chair or vice chair") of the various B&C's to the "woodshed:" "produce the motions, votes, and minutes on time - or resign. The public and State statutes demand this information!"
« Last Edit: Dec 29, 2005, 8:20am by FootDoc.Weth »
