Can you move that wall please?

Okay, the talk of the town seems to be the selectmen's meeting that I missed and still haven't seen.  Good news is the meeting is "on demand" now.  The bad news is it is long.  

Listening to the audio in the background as I type.  Taking into account the length of the meeting, it is not likely I will get through the whole tape this morning to be honest.  I eventually will though. It is worth it, so I am told.  

Much of what has been said revolves around the same is, "It is about time."

A portion of the meeting worth watching would be at 1:04 in.  The Board discusses the concept of a capital planning committee.  It ends with a discussion of widening the scope of Fin Com members to serve on other committees.  

Right now Fin Com members are prohibited from serving in any other elected or appointed capacity or holding any paid position with the town, except they can sit on an ad hoc committee or advisory committee.  

If the Selectmen create a committee not otherwise authorized by law, it is in essence nothing more than an advisory committee.  It has no powers, standing or right to existence other than as a result of the same.  It cannot independent act or compel adherence to any policy or procedure.  Any powers or duties would be those that the Selectmen could legally delegate to it, and the same could not exceed any powers or duties that the Selectmen themselves have (and the Selectmen's powers and duties are limited).

As such, you can call such entities anything you want, the simple fact is they have no formal authority.  It will be an interesting debate as to whether there is an actual need to tinker with the prohibition against serving in other capacities, since it will be nothing more than an advisory committee anyway.  

Enough of that stuff ...

About 1:18 in, there is the discussion of policy and procedures.  Forget about the financial policies and procedures, as important as those are.  The initial discussion on the town's sexual harassment policy lasted a whooping two seconds.  

To say there was a discussion at all is being generous.  There was a comment.  A comment about a document that is very long overdue, that the lack of can't be explained away in any shape or form by the failure of any one individual (might be more later in the meeting, but that is as far as I have gotten, plus about 10 minutes).

Following closely on the heels of that "eyeopening and important discussion", is the financial policy and procedure discussion, and the comment about where statements are coming from.  

Point blank, nothing said by Selectman Murphy is an eyeopener, nor is it anything that would have to be spoon fed, or was for that matter, to him or any other Selectmen. 

I personally am not told the same exact thing by various department heads and officials from other boards and committees at least a dozen times a year (and trust me the cast of characters changes constantly).  The fact that I am willing to say so publicly doesn't make it a sole source complaint.

Indeed you saw significant opinion expressed in elections last April based certainly in part on the "communication" problem town wide.

By the way, the tape provides a prime example of why you should do more than just read an article or two.  the exchange, while certainly news worthy, was hardly as earth shattering as implied.

The issue isn't about the need to get something done, it is how you go about it.  Someone has to do a draft.  But preparing the draft based on one perspective isn't conducive to anything.  Neither is ignoring the immediate effects of a preferred course of action.

I could be way out in left field, but it seems to me the starting point should be a review of plans by the occupants of a building before you build it, rather than erecting the structure and giving them a tour of it afterward.  It is a heck of a lot easier to move walls around, change openings and and adjust the floor plan, before you do the construction than it is after you constructed the building.