Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Council meets with ICMA

With a number of police, residents and reporters at tonight's meeting, the Council entered executive session by a vote of 6 to 3 (Adinolfi, Ecke, White opposed). The Town Manager, Town Attorney, Labor Attorney, Personnel Director and two ICMA consultants fact-finders were also invited to join the meeting.

My opinion of the meeting? No comment.

But as I've been saying, the Council has no direct reporting relationship with the Chief or PD staff. Rather, the Council has a relationship with the TM.

Last fall, Cheshire residents voted for change. I recommend the new Council continue voting for change.

Tim White

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

So much for transparency!

Anonymous said...

Nothing like the type of open government Connecticut towns like to practice. The only thing better is the whole concept of municipal employee labor unions and stupid binding arbitration.

Anonymous said...

I hope The Herald file a FOI request.

Anonymous said...

The timing and reason for Lt. Deegan's suspension are highly suspect and suggest retaliation against the union. Hope this doesn't expose the town to lawsuit.

Anonymous said...

It appears that Michael Milone’s attitude is, “Councils come and go, but I am Town Manager forever. The council only needs to know what I tell them.”

Where’s the change we voted for last November? If the council won’t impose an effective term limit on this TM-for-Life, perhaps it’s time we change to an elected mayor.

Anonymous said...

I am sure the Council will release the report once it is finished. Doling out bits and pieces of the whole picture doesn't do anyone any good. The Council is being methodical (if a bit too slow for some blogites) and trying to be fair to all involved.
Remember that the rules set up by civil libertarians, unions and hyperactive lawmakers create a cobweb of crap that people have to go through to get anything done (in the public AND private sector). The Council is a group of unpaid VOLUNTEERS who are trying to untangle a serious situation for the betterment of all.....give them a break before you start howling like a bunch of hyenas.
And one Council members should start being a thoughtful community leader instead of a self-promoting "activist". We have enough of those already.

Anonymous said...

it's ridiculous that the police themselves haven't been given the report ahead of it's public release. The chief and the officers deserve the right to review the report and it's impact before having to deal with the addidtonal issue of media attention and public scrutiny.

Anonymous said...

This group of unpaid VOLUNTEERS had had over three months to address this problem, do we have any solutions yet? We don't even have an outline of the problem, LEADERSHIP? Methodical? Come on!

Anonymous said...

Unpaid volunteers, my I'm about to start shedding tears over it.

The reality is a bit different. The TC is made up of elected officials. They volunteered to take office so long as they could receive enough votes to qualify. Come to think of it possibly there are some financial stipends associated with the job too $ $ $

Hopefully they won't be watching how paid town officials actually conduct their own work and that of their subordinates. If they do nothing much will happen on anything soon. After all the paid town officials so far have taken 10+ years of pool tinkering to get the pool to its current state of fine tuned efficiencies.

Anonymous said...

Tim, you think the TM should be fired because he did not get info. to the Council, who he reports to, in a timely manner.
Yet, the Council has failed to get info regarding a report on the CPD to the public, who they report to and who paid for the report, in a timely manner and after two meetings to discuss it.
If you honestly think the TM should be fired then you must be writing your resignation as well!

Tim White said...

I voted against entering executive session last night. I saw no need for it. And if the vote went my way, the report would've been public last night.

Besides, this is part of a much larger pattern that extends back years.

Anonymous said...

Cheshire needs a change, Tim I think you should resign. What have you done to help the town of Cheshire? The only thing that you have done since you have been elected is complain, complain, complain. Again, What good have you done for the town of Cheshire, besides complain about other town officials?

Tim White said...

Move the town from DB to DC plans.

Restrict take-home vehicles.

Cheshire was recently selected as one of 14 communities in the state that are energy leaders.

Helped kill the strategic plan. And have opposed numerous other wasteful consultants.

Pushed the effort to end the bubble.

Those are some thoughts that come to mind. But I doubt anything I do or say could ever win you over.

Anonymous said...

Tim White said...
Move the town from DB to DC plans.

Restrict take-home vehicles.

Cheshire was recently selected as one of 14 communities in the state that are energy leaders.

Helped kill the strategic plan. And have opposed numerous other wasteful consultants.

Pushed the effort to end the bubble.

Those are some thoughts that come to mind. But I doubt anything I do or say could ever win you over.

March 03, 2010 11:13 PM


There are still plenty of take home vehicles

You may have opposed hiring consultants, but we still hire them. We need you to get other council members to vote against them. Stop bad mouthing everyone else and they will work with you.

You may have pushed the effort to get rid of the bubble, but we still have it. You cannot call it a victory until it is resolved. Look at the postal service as proof.

I am not the same person that called for your resignation. But I do feel that you complain too much and contribute too little. Try working with others and maybe we will not have a turbulant 1.5 years

Anonymous said...

11:07 & 7:30:
The election is over, so why dont YOU stop complaining.

There is a problem with some entrenched managers thinking they are reportable to no one. The Council should not have learned of a senior police officer’s suspension through the grapevine.

Tim ran on a platform that included accountability and transparency by town officials, and he was widely re-elected. He is doing the job the voters want him to do, so YOU need to get over it.

Anonymous said...

11:07 stop being a twat waffle. At least Tim has the courage to volunteer his time to help do what's right for Cheshire. What have you done for Cheshire lately?

Anonymous said...

I have seen this approach taken many times. The result is the dismissal of a valueable employee who might not be the most popular manager. If you look at the choice that management has; 1. dismiss one manager or 2. dismiss many employees. Which one would you choose? The simple answer is dismiss one because dismissing many will disrupt the flow of conducting business. This is a no win situation. The problem is that upper management did a bad job and now finds any easy way out. "I didn't do anything wrong" and walks away with just hiring a new manager. The problem is solved and you only hurt one person. This is my opinion.

Anonymous said...

"I voted against entering executive session last night. I saw no need for it. And if the vote went my way, the report would've been public last night."
OK so you are not writing your resignation. But again, if the TM should be fired for not getting info to the council, which he answers too, in a timely manner...are you calling for the resignation of thoose Council members who once again voted to keep the consultant report from the public, who they answer too and who paid for the report?
You cant have it both ways....

"Besides, this is part of a much larger pattern that extends back years."
Well, that just proves that, as you accuse the TM, there is a pattern of behavior. Although I thought you said that this council was going to bring about change. If they are simply following a pattern from before then they certainly can not claim to be about change!
Again, you cant have it both ways!

Tim White said...

I've voted against the TMs contract for the last three years. This council has been in office for three months. Your analogy is not apt.

Anonymous said...

TIMMMMEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Anonymous said...

I've voted against the TMs contract for the last three years. This council has been in office for three months. Your analogy is not apt`

THe analogy is apt. Your calling for him to be fired for doing the same thing as the council is doing. But I guess since they have only been in 3 months, they get a pass? Let us know when we can start holding them accountable as well!