Two Issues from Last Night Select Board Meeting

Last night Jeanette Stewart said that all departments should present monthly reports at the Select Board Meeting. We agree. We understand that that the departments all work hard and that some may not always be able to be present. We also appreciate that The Electric Department and the Water and Sewer Department have their own meetings and provide minutes. However, the people of the town work hard, too. Not everyone can attend 6 individual meetings each month to find out what they could have found out in one meeting from a brief, concise report of the department's activities and financial status.

Second, the Board of Selectmen announced that it was returning to day time work sessions to be held Mondays at 9:00 AM in the conference room at the Town Hall. The board feels that this time will allow to deal with their workload more effectively. However, this will mean that many people who want to attend the work sessions will not be able to because of the time or because the conference room is not large enough to accommodate the number of people who have been attending the work sessions.. The board has already limited public comments to one period at the end of the monthly meetings. The 5-member board allowed two opportunities for public comment. To be fair, the board allows some public discussion on issues when requested, but they have also stopped public discussion of issues on other occasions. One final point, and that is the board made this announcement at the meeting without previous discussion, which indicates that they discussed this matter in private before bringing it to the meeting.

We feel the board should accommodate the public and not the other way around. According to RSA Chapter 91- Access to Government Records and Meetings:

"Openness in the conduct of public business is essential to a democratic society. The purpose of this chapter is to ensure both the greatest possible public access to the actions, discussions and records of all public bodies, and their accountability to the people."

In this case, we believe that the board is not providing the public with "the greatest possible access to its actions and discussions. We also feel that the board acted improperly by not discussing the matter in public before making the announcement. The public has a right to know whether all of the board members agreed to this change.