Thursday's here

So what's going on today?  No a whole heck of a lot, at least not anything boiling over on the front burner.  

Sure we have a bunch of stuff simmering. Just nothing that has everyone jumping up and down calling for immediate attention.  

The outcome of the town counsel matter is essentially a forgone conclusion.  Turbines are still there, and the related issues still in existence. Medicinal marijuana, well seems the front runner for a facility is looking at Rochester or Freetown instead of New Bedford, with no mention of Fairhaven. Budget problems, well as someone put it to me the other day, decisions don;t have to be made until May, why all the bother.  

All's quiet on the front lines, for the moment at least.  According to the paper today, our selectmen have caught up.  The point in that is why was there any falling behind. If you think about it, another check in the column for a town administrator.

Reading the Fairhaven Neighborhood News article about about the recent public forum, having been there, and also having mulled the whole concept of the government study being down with the crowd inside my head, not to mention a number of people, and being one of those who for years has been arguing that the town administrator concept is long over due, I remain certain of one fact: most people simply do not understand the concept.

Those arguing for maintaining the status quo simply don't understand what it is and why it exist. If we do nothing, when the current executive secretary retires he will be replaced with another executive secretary. So what's the problem you may ask?  

The three elected officials who are in charge over the positions and the multitude of other elected officials who aren't and the host of appointed personnel who also aren't.  

Before I go on, let me be clear that this has nothing to do with the persons individually in place.  It is a statement simply about the present set-up.

Simply put, there is a world of difference between actual authority and acquiescence to de facto authority and deference to experience .  Even with a town administrator, the players playing the game aren't going to quietly continue to cede their positions to a new player. 

A town administrator, properly empowered, would have a fighting chance.  A new executive secretary is going to have to rely on the carrot and stick approach, absent the stick.

Having used the stick to beat that particular point to death several times, I will nonetheless continue to whack at it.  If you are happy with the status quo for that position, you have to acknowledge the fact that what makes you happy about it rest pretty much exclusively with the individual in that position.  You have many reason to in fact be happy. He is as good at his job as any, and in fact under the title and powers of an executive secretary is in my humble estimation probably in a very exclusive club as far as ratings for the position.

Enough on that point.

The most contentious aspect of any proposal is going to be what to do with an elected BPW. The two biggest pro points to keeping it that I have heard being submitted:  constituent service and recent success at contract negotiation.   

I am out of time at the moment.  But as to the concept of constituent service, it is really a double edge sword.  At some point we will take a swing both ways with that one, and the other one at some point.   

Be safe.