more coming soon

Restoring Transparency and Accountability in our local government is one of my top priorities that costs nothing. Right now, our Town government is NOT transparent at all. For example, on March 7, 2023 my opponent approved a resolution that says they can call a Town meeting with as little as 24 hours notice to the public and post the agenda, and in emergencies, which are not defined, as little as two hours. While this may be legal, it does not make it right. This is not enough notice to the citizens to even know about the meetings, let alone participate. How is a working family going to know to take off work and get childcare to attend with just 24 hours notice for a 5pm meeting? These meetings can impact people’s rights and decide other important matters. This resolution is proof to me that the current Town Chair does not want your participation. Why not give us more notice to encourage participation? I pledge to encourage citizen participation and make it easy to do so.

Additionally, important and public government information is not easily accessible by the public from the Town. Why is it that the Town does not post video or zoom recordings of the meetings for the citizens to watch at their convenience? Why do public data requests take 15 days to get a response? Why is a detailed budget not posted online? (read more detail on that below). Previously, I made a simple Open Records Request that included the full, detailed budget that took 15 days when all that needed to happen is to click an excel document file and attach it in an email and hit send. On my most recent request, the Town wanted to charge me over $300 for a simple data request, thanks to a new ordinance by Tim Foster. I have also heard from multiple residents that responses to citizen inquiries are slow or non-existent. All of this needs to change. It costs nothing to be fully transparent and I pledge to restore full transparency.

Transparency in local government is crucial for maintaining accountability and trust within the community. By providing detailed budgets and line-item expenditures, local governments can ensure that taxpayers understand how their money is being spent and can hold officials accountable for their decisions. Additionally, holding public debates and discussions to decide important issues, versus rogue actions in secret, can help to ensure that the community's voice is heard and that decisions are made publicly with the best interests of the community in mind with full input of all elected officials.

ISN’T THIS HAPPENING NOW? WHAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH THE BUDGET AND TRANSPARENCY?

No, there is not transparency. The problems now include that the publicly available Town budget is a one page summary sheet lumping all sorts of budget items into one general category, See image above. Nothing specific is listed. The Township under current leadership does not release the specific line by line budget document. I will change this.

In addition, currently under Tim Foster’s administration, the consent agenda items tell us, as the public, nothing about what the Town is taking action on. I will ensure that the agendas adequately summarize these items for transparency and accountability.