Public Information Officer
Emma's dad said:
I think that it makes sense to appoint someone whose charge is to facilitate and improve the distribution of information from the town. Clearly, previous efforts, if any, by the council or its individual members have not been fruitful, and the importance of improving the public's ability to access government information cannot be understated. As Jefferson wrote, "whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government." It's time for a more aggressive approach.
And my response:
Perhaps the newly created position of Public Information Officer will fill that role? hmmm...
After all, you may recall that this past Tuesday the Council voted to create a position of Public Information Officer. And if you read the job description below (click on image to enlarge), you'll see that #8 of the PIO role "originates and distributes information to the public through press releases, the Town website, the Government Access Channel, and other means as appropriate." (#9 & #10 seem to reinforce #8.)
So has the request by Emma's Dad just been filled?
Perhaps, but I will point out that when the Town Manager initially proposed this and I began asking him questions about it, he said several times that this role is not changing... this is simply a "recognition" of the role that is currently being performed as the job has changed over the years, with new duties added (new duties highlighted in yellow)... and again... this is simply a recognition of the current role. And so I guess that public information is already available, right?
Or maybe I'm left scratching my head... trying to figure out... if the Council just voted to create this new position... which is simply a recognition that these responsibilities are already being performed... then... how do we address the concerns of people here on this blog (and around town)... that public information is not as readily accessible as it could/should be?
Great comment by Emma's dad.
Emma's dad for Council!
Tim White
Town Council, 4th District
45 comments:
Tim once again you have a no issue here. This is not worth anyones time.
Steady boy we are watching you and you are losing our confidence
7:50,
Tim contributes more to thoughtful public dialogue in one post than you do in a lifetime of negativity and sniping.
who is writing these responses Tim's family.
Good try to no cigar
....See, that's what I mean
"distributes information to employees, local officials, other local and state agencies, the press and the general public."
Wow! You can see what they think of us, we're last and almost as an after thought, the general public. I think the citizens should be first, all 29,000 of us.
First of all it should not be under the TM. As we just saw during the last Council meeting, the TM, sitting a few feet away, couldn't answer Tim's question with a YES or NO about did someone ask the TM to relax the rules to for a fund raiser on public property. Lucky for the TM, Matt Hall headed this question off.
Did the TM do anything to see that the important P&Z meetings were televised or that the minutes of these were put on the web? The TM supports the northend developers.
It looks like the TM will continue to decide what he wants us to know.
From the very start, the public has been kept in the dark about the northend and it is not an accident.
nothing wrong here we need this job done and it is fine with me
This is a Tim nit pik that really is a mountain and a molehill
Lets get on to more important stuff here
"whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government"
I'd suggest that a well-informed electorate (and providing the electorate with easy-access to the information) MAY be the most important issue in any gov't.
As for "more important stuff," I'm quite happy to take front page posts from others... regardless of your political stripes. So if you feel there are more important topics to be discussed... please write something up and I may very well post it on the front page.
Tim,
Is this issue really that important to you, and is the person performing this job really that bad?
After reading the job description, I'm underwhelmed. I have two concerns. If the order of the duties reflects the relative importance of each, then that the G channel and website come at the end of the list is a disappointment. Second, the list of skills and abilities does not include any experience in web design and/or knowledge of XHTML. I wonder how someone who lacks these skills is to maintain and update the format of the website. The job position gives the illusion of trying to improve the public's access to information, but is not a serious attempt.
Hey Tim how come you said this before the meeting and then you backed away fromthe whole thing during the meeting? Another flip flop by the old Timer
We are watching
And I intend to support Matt Hall on this...
"I will call for an investigation as to how that happened and who asked (the town clerk) to do it and why she did it," Hall said. (MRJ, June 13)
...because at this point, we either need to stamp out the alleged wrongdoing or we need to clear anyone who has had their name wrongly dragged into the mud. (Although, it should be noted that most of the comments about "tampering" seem to have come with the caveat of "could be a clerical error.") Furthermore, as you may have noticed in my LTTE in today's Herald... I have a low tolerance level for wrongdoing. A
"Is this issue really that important to you, and is the person performing this job really that bad?"
Providing easy access to public information (website, G channel, etc.) is extremely important to me.
I'm concerned about the job performance of the TM as that position reports to the Council. No other position in the administration reports to the Council.
I think Emma's dad made another good point though. I guess I'd suggest eliminating the new duties and the overtime for this position... and instead shift that part of the budget to a new position... to someone with computer experience and communications experience, etc.
In turn, there's no budgetary impact... but perhaps with division of duties and experience with HTML, tv production, etc.... would help improve the public's access to information.
6:12 I didn't back away from anything. The Council conducted the investigation and found nothing... thus Elizabeth withdrew the motion... investigation complete.
Besides, I felt I asked the key questions... why was the date changed to '08, then to '07?
Then without prompting, Carolyn offered up the last piece of info... no one intimated anything to her about changing the date.
I felt that was the end of the story. But if you feel there are more questions to be asked, I certainly would listen to your concerns. As well, the Ordinance committee will be further discussing the process... so you could probably ask your questions when they meet.
That may help alleviate your concerns.
The Democrats have done a wonderful job and have kept taxes low and have funded all programs well.
Is this the best the Rep have to complain about?
"Tim once again you have a no issue here. This is not worth anyones time."
translation: "we're getting really concerned about all this transparent government stuff"
"Steady boy we are watching you and you are losing our confidence"
translation: "look out Tim, we'll take you down if we have to"
-------
7:50, you sound like a hired goon. this obviously matters to you. are you of the opinion that extra information just confuses or riles the common-folk? we're all intelligent adults here. we can handle some debate. keep it up, tim.
7:01PM Do you honestly think the Democrats would have been able to keep taxes low for the past two years if the Republicans had not set the groundwork first. As far as funding programs it took a Republican (Tom Rocco) and a petition of over 3,000 signatures to get the ball rolling for senior tax relief. Before that the Democrats made a lot of promises but that was it. The only member to vote against it was a Democrat (Visconti). So lets not give the Democrats all the credit - give credit where credit is due.
Gimmie nice condos
Real nice
WS and the boys gonna getcha what ya want
Bigger and better than before
Hickory dickory dock
The anits are are in a tizzy
They are on their front porches
They live in the 19th century
And want everyone else to live their too
NOt gonna happen
So move to putnam while you can old timer
....and a boorish hired goon at that. Someone should investigate if he's taking payoffs from WS.
I just got back from tearing down signs from all over Cheshire about the north end.
ONe guy stopped me and told me he was going to call the cops
I told him that the sign were illegal and that I was doing the civic duty of a honest citizen.
He said carry on
I will get all of these before the summer is over.
It does not matter bc at the time of the PZ meeting it is going to pass and we will be on our way
Cant wait
....yes, a boorish hired goon.
No payoff here just a one person army who wants to see good things happen for Cheshire
Go WS
Tear down the signs
Rip them down
Rip them up
....still a childish boor.
Hey just came back in and found some more signs
Rip Rip Rip
Why do they even try when Jack the Ripper is in town!??
You put em up
I tear em down
Why doesn't anyone want the public to see what's going on at the P&Z meetings regarding the 400 acre Interchange Zone that will affect Cheshire's future forever. The meetings are not televised even though the person that runs the camera is already there and the minutes of these meetings are not put on the P&Z Recent Minutes site. There is a total information blackout to 29,000 Cheshire residents. There are more than enough people to blame, the Chair of the P&Z, Voelker, Matt Hall and the Town Manager. All of them support the zone change and the W/C development. Anyone of them could either make these things happen or could suffiently force the issue to make it happen, but none of them want to.
This shows we don't need an information officer under the TM. If they don't want the public to know something, it doesn't matter how many information officers you have.
I am going to organize a million man march.
When the PZ says yes we are going up to the north end to start building roads and shopppes and rest and housing so WS won't have too much to do.
The million man march on the north end.
but before that we will have the million man marathon that will go around and tear down all the signs
Rip Rip Rip
.....the only reason he gets away with being a childish boor is because he can post anonymously here (or rip down signs anonymously). He's a true coward who doesn't have the b*lls to publicly attach his name to his comments or actions (even tho I suspect he's an elected official). A cowardly, childish boor.
"suspect he's an elected official"
Inland wetlands?
That would be my guess!!!
commissioner of trash & sewers
Inlands Wetland is not elected..it is appointed.
Rip Rip Rip
Let me give you a tip
WS and the boys gonna get ya something real nice
Bigger and better than ever
Boy are you gonna be suprised
MOre tax bucks to Cheshire
better places to shop and eat
Hot Dog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyone who is saying that this is the end of Cheshire-we will remember you at election time
And stop messing with WPCA while you are at it
An example of a more effective government website is Glastonbury's. In particular, they have much better meeting and community events calenders, and they publish agendas and minutes for councils and committees going back ~ 6 years. Would be easy for Cheshire to provide similar content.
Glastonbury also has very nice places to shop so we can do that too
If I read it right the person that you think is posting has been out of the country for weeks. You guys are smart.
Yea that guy has more money than all of you put together. Maybe that is why you all hate him?
Do we need a Town Planner? Aren't the developers writing their own rules and regs? The Town Plan of Conservation and Development and the Zone Text Changes were all written by W/C and local deveopers. We could save $100,000 a year.
Important
A big thanks to LeversandPulleys for providing the 29,000 people in Cheshire with the zone change P&Z Minutes of 5/21/07 and 6/25/07.
See
http://leversandpulleys.com/blog/
and click on
"unoffficial Cheshire town documents" on the left of the screen.
/
"The Democrats have done a wonderful job"
FOR THE DEVELOPERS.
Brace yourself, W/S, Boman and Calcagni are cooking us up something special. You want restaurants? Well your going to get more than you bargained for.
The Town Conservation and Development Plan has been changed to give you mixed use in all of the town's commercial zones. This will enable them to put residential next to or mix in with the existing retail, Voelker thinks that mixing it right in with the retail is terrific.
So don't be surprised to see our local boys pump out a string of applications to build residential in our existing commercial zones. More schools?
Read the wording for yourself on page 8 of "Commercial Goals". It says it right there, but they really don't want you to read it and they don't want an attorney to explain its rqamifications.
Follow the link and click on "Proposed Revisions to ..
http://www.cheshirect.org/planningzoning/default.html
Wake up Cheshire - We're getting Screwed
Copy and paste the following link
http://leversandpulleys.com/blog/archive/cheshire-interchange-zone-mall-scheme/
If someone has more money than the need --that is greed. Good luck and hope they can sleep at night.
Where are all these signs that this persons keeps saying he is tearing down? I think he is full of BS. He is in another world.
There are no more signs because Jack the Ripper has seen to it
Rip Rip Rip
Here is a tip
Ws and the boys gonna get ya something real nice
If you read the minutes of the June 25Th meeting there are many comments made by Mr. Cobern that are dead wrong. No wonder why they never have the town attorney present or want it televised. They are discussing details of a plan which is not even up for discussion. The chairwomen should stop such discussions. They are not relevent to the zone text change. The developer can come in with a completely different plan than what was given in The Cheshire Herald. Wake up and concentrate on the zone text change and it's implications only.
The following Poll is similar to the type that the Cheshire Herald runs. You may vote as many times as you want.
This week's question is;
What best describes the Cheshire Herald?
1. It makes up the news and twists
the facts.
2. It likes to name call.
3. It's irresponsible.
4. Big supporters of special
interests.
"Rip Rip Rip"
More Taxes, More Taxes, More Taxes
That's what the Calcagni, Bowman and W/S boys are gonna stick to you. And they'll be laughing all the way to bank.
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