Town Council Minutes' Format Matter
Dec. 2005 - Jan. 2006
Wethersfield, CT
On-Line Public Comments and Concerns
of
Kenneth Sokolowski (FootDoc.Weth)
First Comments on 12/27/2005 on an On-line forum
about Clerk's revised (first version) of unapproved minutes.
Observations of the Minutes (unofficial) T/C meeting of 12/19/2005
(Embedded square [bracketed] items are mine.)
The copy of the minutes of the Town Council of 12/19/2995 received from the Clerk's office on 12/23/2005 was only headed:
"Unapproved
DECEMBER 19, 2005
REGULAR MEETING"
The heading was missing 'Minutes of the Town Council, Town of Wethersfield, CT'.
They also had been annotated:
12/22 [Thursday] Dolores -
Please Proof.
Thanks,
Tammy"
Unlike the agenda of the meeting, which follows an alphanumeric outline, these minutes lacked any such alpha-enumeration and indentation scheme. A copy of the agenda of the meeting did not accompany the minutes.
Though all Councilors were named under those present, [any absent should have been indicated as "none" for the sake of clarity].
On the first page it was reported that:
"Chairperson Morin clarified that item B.3.a is an ordinance for introduction and should not appear on the agenda under Other Business."
But, since the name of the "B.3.a" item was not given, a reader, absent the agenda, could not know to what in fact this referred. It should also be noted that the life of the agenda on the Town's website is very short: it usually appears within 24 hours of the council meeting and is removed from public access the following day.
The removed agenda of the meetings of the Council and the various boards and commissions are not currently accessible to the public on the Town's website; certain towns in the state provide both.
Under the headings of Public Comments and "General Comments", comments by members of the public were rendered to usually one or two sentences, regardless of the duration, contents or significance of each presentation.
The Council Reports & Comments was similarly rendered to one or two sentences per Councilor, with the exception of the Chairperson who was allocated a small paragraph of several sentences covering his multiple observations.
In the section entitled Council Action, the moving and seconding Councilors were named for each proposed action; this was followed by a simple summary of passage of each action and its tally: aye, nay, abstaining.
No attributable comment or even paraphrase by any Councilor during the discussion of any motion was included here.
Under the heading of Other Business and the topic 'Changes in Town Council Minute [sic] format' was a brief paragraph which attributed nothing to any specific Councilor. The only attribution was to the Town Clerk. This paragraph started with an unattributed, unsubstantiated, allegation: "The reason for this motion being necessary was discussed since the public has complained that it is taking too long for minutes to appear on the Town website and the detailed transcription of various minutes is costing the Town approproximately $25,000 per year." The paragraph closed with: "Councilors had mixed opinions regarding the new format; therefore, it was decided to table the motion until more information [sic] is obtained."
Under the headings of Ordinances, Resolutions, Appointments for Introduction and "Ordinance Amending Chapter A180, Town Council Rules of Procedure" the proposed revisions were presented. Noteable was the some questionable grammar: "Each speaker shall limit their his/her remarks..." and "The Chair at their his/her discretion...". No demarcation was provided to indicate where this proposal ended and any explanatory note(s) began.
[Remarkably, the Clerk felt it appropriate and consistent to report:] "Chairperson Morin wished Happy Holidays to the residents of Wethersfield on behalf of the Town Council."
Under the obviously boilerplated section entitled Adjournment, NO times nor names were included. For example, the last of the three motions read: "At p.m., moved "TO ADJOURN THE MEETING" seconded by . All Councilors present, including the Chairperson voted AYE. The motion passed 9-0-0."
For their personal review, concerned citizens should probably obtain a copy of these unapproved minutes from the Clerk's office since, as of the moment, they are not on the Town's website [despite the haste or facility with which they were produced!].
[Isn't the estimated "$25,000"already part and parcel of our town budget and isn't it to a large degree the pay supporting at least one part-time assistant town clerk and any already accommodated, outsourced, secetarial services (for the minutes)? kes 12/31/22005]
« Last Edit [in that forum]: Dec 31, 2005, 11:22am by FootDoc.Weth
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