A few months ago I sent an email to the Town Administrator asking that Department reports at the Select Board Meets be more informative so and that the town adopt a standard format for the reports. Since then the reports have been more informative, but not all departments attend the meeting. The town treasurer never attends Select Board meetings but does provide a report. The fire department, police department, and Parks and Recreation attend regularly, but Water and Sewer, and the Electric Department have missed several meetings over the past six months and neither has provided a report on those occasions.
All departments should attend and present their reports at the Select Board Meetings, and they should be available to answer questions from residents. The board might consider changing the agenda of the meeting so that the department representatives could make their reports earlier in the meeting and residents could ask questions and make comments.
The fact is the Electric Department and the Water/Sewer Departments both hold public meetings every other week, as does the Board of Selectmen. Reports from both departments are presented at their respective meetings. They are more than happy to answer any questions from residents and often will meet with residents who have concerns in person. Why are the Electric, Water and Sewer Departments made out to be the villains because they do not attend the Board of Selectmen meetings? When the Board of Selectmen consisted of five members they appointed one member to each department as liaison. Now, since going to three members, they do not regularly attend the meetings. If the people of Ashland wish to see the departments working together they have only to look around when one department needs assistance and another pitches in to help as they all often do. The Coalition for Action needs to realize that the Board of Selectmen governs the Town Departments (Fire, Police, Highway and Park & Rec.) and the Commissions govern the Utility Departments (Electric, Water and Sewer). They both, by law, have to hold public meetings.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this comment. You are right that the Select Board also bears responsibility for this problem. The Selectmen are not attending the Electric Department or Water and Sewer meetings regularly, nor are they attending the Planning Board or other meetings regularly. Part of the problem was the vacancy left by the resignation of Dennis Potter, but the 3-member board has not been as effective as the 5-member board in this regard. We will be posting more on this issue. We believe we need to return to a 5-member board.
ReplyDeleteThe problem for residents is that we must attend all three meetings to get information and ask questions. It is not too much to ask that all departments present reports at the Select Board meetings.
It is very good that the departments help each other out when they need assistance. But, our concern in that the Selectmen and the Commissioners do not work together on planning or budgeting. The fact that the town,the Electric Department, and Water and Sewer are separate entities does not mean that they should operate independently. We are one town, and what one department does affects all the to the departments. The residents pay the bills, and we only have so much money no matter how you divide.
The problem we are facing now has resulted from both a failure to work together and a lack of long term planning and budgeting. Water and Sewer is facing replacing $2.5 million in equipment over the next 5 years, and the town is also facing large expenditures for repairing facilities, replacing equipment, and repairing roads. Neither has the cash reserves to pay for these expenses, and there is no long term coordinated plan to prioritize needs so that tax payers and rate payers will not be hit with large increases. The budget committee has been working on these issues, but there needs to be a coordinated effort to deal with these issues.
If the town, the Electric Department, and Water and Sewer cannot coordinate their efforts to serve the town, we may have consider having a town manager again so that there will be a person responsible for overseeing the entire operation of the town.
I believe the Town as a whole would be much better off if the Board would let the Town Administrator do his job (day to day operation of the town) and the Selectmen set the policies of the town.
ReplyDeleteAs a voter and taxpayer in Ashland I would never ever again consider voting in favor of another Town Manager. A Town Manager has too much control over the town with very little oversight.
We also believe that the Select Board should let the Town Administrator handle the day-to-day issues and focus on major issues.
ReplyDeleteAshland has had a bad experience with a Town Manager, but that does not mean that having a Town Manager is necessarily bad. Right now there is not enough coordination between the various departments, boards, and commissions. No one has control or oversight of the entire operation of the town. As one person has pointed out, the departments cooperate well on day to day work, but there is a need for coordinated long term planning and budgeting. Hopefully, we can bring this about with the current organizational structure and leadership. If we can't, then we may have to look again at having a town manager. Ultimately, it is the voters who control how the town operates. If voters do not take an interest in key issues neither the current structure nor a town manager will work well.
As someone who is involved with the community, I agree that the commissioners and town do not work together. The only time the commissioners will work together with the town is when things go there way, otherwise its a constant fight. There are to many people with authority or ones that think they have authority, that are running this town. All one has to do is sit back and use some common sence and see that the currant set up we have is not working. Although this town had a bad expierience with a Town Manager in the past, just remember that the taxes were low, improvements were made in all departments and things ran smoothly unless one did not agree with the management. This is always going to happen, one can never make all happy. Lets reflect a bit on the past ten years with commissioners, they were going to make sure things progressed, to date, utilities are in the hole, rates do not sustain spending and saving needs, there has been no working together on budgets and improvement plans, everything is a mess and yet they still are not working together to find a solution. More need to get involved and see whats happening.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the town administrator should be allowed to do his job. Paul Branscombe is the best thing that has happened to this town in quite a while. It appears that he has enormous responsibility with little authority, and this is inefficient. I know several residents who have called him and he has responded immediately. This is much appreciated. Paul has been creative, proactive and practical in his approach to many issues from the transfer station to energy.
ReplyDeleteI have heard rumors from time to time about the threat to fire him - why, I can't imagine. If that should happen, there would be an enormous outcry. While I understand the reluctance to return to a town manager, there should be a better way to utilize the expertise of the town administrator for the betterment of the town.