The Selectboard gave a first reading approval to the Article 36 Task Force proposed by Selectboard Vice Chair Roger Arnold at its last meeting. Overall, a task force is a good idea. However, one aspect of the proposal troubles me. The Town Manager selects four members to the nine member Task Force. That novel approach seems to lack transparency. Public participation is also lost.
To be accurate, the Town Manager “recommends” each person. Then, the Selectboard does the appointing. But, I am having a hard time imagining a scenario where the Selectboard rejects the recommendation.
Voters approved Article 36 at Town Meeting in 2019. The Article calls for Town government to reduce its fossil fuel use by five percent each year. The Task Force “will initiate work towards an aggressive and comprehensive work plan to achieve the elimination of direct fossil fuels in the Town of Norwich.” The proposed Task Force charge is in the packet for the Selectboard meeting of January 27, 2021, starting at page 309.
Composition of Task Force
The Task Force consists of nine members. The Energy Committee recommends two of its members. In addition, the Finance Committee and the Planning Commission each recommend one of its members. The Selectboard appoints the persons recommended, as well as, a Selectboard member.
The Town Manager recommends the final four members from four different categories. See below.
These are not Supreme Court nominees. I suspect the Selectboard will appoint the persons recommended by the Town Manager, without a lot of discussion, as it will with the the folks selected by the Planning Commission, Finance Committee and Energy Committee.
Town Manager involvement
Having the Town Manager directly involved in the process is new approach to me. In Norwich, open committee positions are typically advertised. Each application submitted is available for public review. Also, the Selectboard selects the winning candidate at a public meeting. Candidates are generally asked to attend the public meeting. They make their pitch and answer questions. The result: full transparency.
Will the Town Manager follow the same process? I don’t know. The Selectboard did not show any concern about how the process might work. Indeed, the topic never came up at the Selectboard meeting, as seen on YouTube. The Board knows the Town Manager did not advertise the open positions on the Diversity work group he created. The Selectboard has no problem with that group meeting in secret. I guess that’s the way it goes around here.
I like open government. This is a step backward.
Contact me at norwichobserver [AT] gmail.com.
My observations and questions:
1. There are 3 members of the four “recommended” by the Town Manager that do not have to be community members. In other words, they do not have incentive to consider the impact on the community, or any other aspects of accountability that are inherent in community members.
2. What is the purpose of having the Town Manager picking members? This is more than a transparency issue, it is ceding Select Board responsibilities and obligations to an autocratic and unaccountable governmental entity.
3. Being unaccountable and autocratic, having the Town Manager “recommend” members – especially knowing that the SB will accept those recommendations as a matter of course – allows the TM to “recommend” members who are answerable to the TM or who otherwise are chosen for their ability to further the TM’s agenda which could, and often does, contradict the will and needs of the community.
I completely agree with the purpose of Article 39, but this means of choosing members of the Task Force intended to further the purposes of Article 39 could actually interfere with the Task Force’s purpose.
Good points, Ernie. The Selectboard has approval of the task force on its agenda for February 10.