Friday, July 16, 2010

I'm back and here is something to ponder

Except when I was in the hospital and a handful of other times, I’ve been attending borough council meetings in our town for 26 years.


I’ve seen a lot of councils come and go. I’ve seen a lot of people serve our great town, who did a great job and others I have wondered why they have even run. Yes, being on borough council or school board is a thankless job. More headaches than pats on the back.

With that said, here are a couple of things to think about on how our council meetings are conducted.

First off, I don’t like the current citizen comment format, because its just my impression but it leads to a notion that things are being covered up. Council needs to open up the line of communication and not make its citizens (i.e., the people who elected them) wait a month to contradict what a member of borough council says. I am not saying, there has to be banter back and forth, but loosen the reigns a little bit.

Second, unlike what Borough Manager Norm Meiskey said two months that citizens don’t have to pre-register to speak at the meetings, I think if people feel its important to speak, they should have the right to register ahead of time.

Third, I know this will be controversial. But, citizen comment needs to be limited. I’m not saying five-minutes per speaker, but maybe 90 minutes for the entire comment period.

Now, let’s move on. There are different thoughts on this and I’ve been to a number of municipal meetings throughout Lancaster, York and Chester counties. Some have their department heads at meetings, others don’t. Some have their attorney at the meetings, some don ‘t and others have their solicitor issues at the beginning of the meeting, then they leave. Here, we have our attorney sit through the entire meeting and when it comes time for him to give his report, there is usually nothing. So, the question here, why not have the solicitor speak at the beginning of the meeting and get hin out of the meeting. Remember, the money clock is running.

Also think, the department heads should be at the monthly meetings as well.

Now, the various committee reports. Why not make the meeting minutes and agendas from those meetings available to the public to pick up at the meeting. That way, those who attend just the monthly meetings may understand what happens. As I understand it now, all committee meeting minutes go to the council president.

Speaking of meeting minutes and agendas, why not make them available to the citizens ahead of time. Use the borough web page or have print outs available at the meetings.

Now, let’s have one other addition to the meeting, which is at the end of the meetings – the part where it says reports from boards, commissions and authorities. Here usually are none. So, let’s have them give or provide reports for meetings.

And as for inviting citizens to the various committee meetings, just open things up a little and stop the secrecy. I also understand why the citizens get invited to the council committee meetings and I’m not sure I like it. But, here’s my theory. They want citizens to come to the monthly committee meetings because they are rarely covered by the local press. And I know for a fact, there are those in charge of our town, you just would assume that no one would come to any meetings and there would be no coverage in the newspaper, television or other media, so they can do things “their way.” But that will be denied as well. And that is just sad.

Perhaps I’m asking too much, but Columbia Borough has to be more open with its citizens and not make them feel like they are not being heard. On the same token, our citizens need to do the same thing, try to respect our borough council and maybe it’s not too late to turn things around.

Still, if there are others who sit at the head table who don’t like how things are being run, speak up and don’t be afraid to step to the plate.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

First off, welcome home Barry. I hope you really enjoyed vacation and had a great time! I agree that changes have got to be made on how boro council mtgs are run, but i won't hold my breath. mary, norm and leo like it just the way it is. i've been to the last 3 boro council mtgs and each one a resident has stated they don't like the format and would like to see a change. that the citizens can not rebute anything said-usually by norm, leo or mary. the rest of council just sits and says nothing. we, the TAXPAYING citizens of this town, have every right to ask for a change in the citizen comment format. i believe, also, that these meetings NEED TO BE AND SHOULD be recorded.

Anonymous said...

thanks Hilary for filling in for Barry!!!! enjoy your summer!

Anonymous said...

just a reminder check out june 30, it's still getting a lot of hits

Anonymous said...

Amen to the comments regarding having the solicitor at the meetings. This is a HUGE waste of money. Bring in the solicitor when you know or have a strong belief that he may be needed, otherwise, keep him at home. I am sure it costs big bucks to have him at these meetings. If something comes up that requires the solicitor's opinion, table the matter until it can be addressed with the solicitor.

Department heads should be at every meeting. There are many dicussions where their input would be valuable.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure the Council will sAy the department heads would have to be paid to attend these meetings.I fell it's their duty. Ever attend the Council meetings years back. The Police cheif always attented. Not anymore. The Mayor speaks for the cheif. Attend any safety meetings lately, The cheif attenteds (rarely)only to give a report then heads to the bar. again the Mayor fills in for the cheif for the rest of the meeting. Isn't safety the responsabilty of the police cheif. I would think he should take more of an intrist espically that were pay 80,000 a year plus a year not counting fringes.

Anonymous said...

The majority of this Council has no integrity. They cannot be trusted. Leo, Norm and Mary were seen at the Borough Hall on Wednesday night at 11:00 PM. Next year there will be a mininum of four seats up for Council. Hopefully one will resign soon creating another seat. Mary Wickenheiser should resign her position as President and let someone like Mary Barninger or Kelly Murphy take over. Mary W. could go down as one of the worst. She lets Norm and Leo run her meetings. They all look at each other when comments are being said. A good example of how Mary runs meeting is when she is discussing something most times Norm says the opposite. A good example is she was talking about the purchase of the 14 acres along the river and the Borough had no plans to do anything other than remove a few trees. Norm says thats not true. There are plans to do somethings up along the river. As for the 5 minute rule if only Council would answer questions then you probably would not have this kind of tension between Citizens and elected officials. Vern Detz has been asking for the true cost of 3rd and Linden street for 6 months. Norm said that would take a lot of time to get all the figures together. Bren Shultz sitting there said his department (Waste Water) spent 22,000 out there. So how hard would it be to have each department turn in an expense sheet? This is the very reason why this Council and Norm cannot be trusted. They don't want you to know how much money was spent out there.

Vernon R. Detz, JR said...

Welcome back Barry! Great post! I hope Council listens and makes some changes to the current format of the monthly Council meetings.

I would like to say "Thanks" to Hilary as well for covering while you were away.

william chester said...

question for V. Detz, school board member, what is with the effort of some coaches putting pressure on our athletes to play just one sport, football. What is the school board doing about this?

william chester said...

Who will teach Mary Barninger or Kelly Murphy how to run a meeting? Do they not voice their opinion on issues or sit there? You tell me,if the later they sure display leadership, huh? And you are promoting them? Me thinks you have an axe to grind!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Mr. Chester asks a good question. The "play and focus on one sport" mentality has to go. Our school is too small for this thought process. The school board needs to step in and order, not ask, the coaches to stop this.

Vernon R. Detz, JR said...

Mr. Chester...this is the first time I'm hearing that coaches are encouraging participation in only one sport. If you could provide more details, it would be appreciated. You don't have to do it on this forum, I'm in the book, feel free to give me a call to discuss. For the record, I'm on record as saying the same thing, Columbia is too small to have our students focus on one extra-curricular activity and should be encouraged to participate in more than one. Thanks!

Unknown said...

Well said Barry! Right on the mark

Anonymous said...

Mr.Chester,

There is no axe to grind. Apparently you have not been to too many Borough Council meetings. Reading your comments tell me you're clueless or misinformed. At least these two explain and discuss their issues. They don't look at Norm or Leo for guidance. I want to see you at Council meetings asking the hard questions like Vern Detz and Frank Doutrich. Its easy to sit back and throw stones at glass house's. As to "Me thinks you have an axe to grind", Me don't think so. If you want educated about the borough happenings please fill free to come to the meetings and I believe you may be smart enough to come up with your own conclusions. Unless you are related to someone.

Anonymous said...

Apparently you do not attend the committee meetings that they do run. Murphy AND Barninger seem to be the only two that OWN their opinions. The 3 or 4 on the far right just go along with the majority and wouldn't know how to vote if they were called first. Pay attention William!

Anonymous said...

Mr. Chester and those who have commented about the one sport issue, have you thought about calling the head coach? Probably not. Yes, most coaches, when in season, don't want their athletes training for another sport. I think you'll find the head football coach very good to talk with and it's doubtful he said it, because he knows how important it is for our kids to play other sports.

Anonymous said...

WHY is the solictor at ALL the meetings? it's not like we can afford it with being in the hole already for $ 5 million-maybe i know why-because norm mary and leo WILL stick their FOOT in their MOUTHS. one says yes the other says no, BUT where's the rest of tour elected officials? they sit there and try to stay awake. HELLO-wake up and take control-we elected you for a reason and it WASN'T to say yes yes yes to norm leo and mary

Anonymous said...

Back to the gist of what Barry's article is about. The last thing you mention Barry is that someone on council should step up and speak out if they don't like the current format of the meeting. Well I don't think that's going to happen because I feel the majority like it this way. I agree that it stinks, should have never been allowed to happen and I don't even recall that it was ever put into a motion and formally adopted. But the majority of them are spineless and don't want to be held accountable for any of the decisions that are made, even though they vote on them. I believe Mary Barninger or Kelly Murphy would have the guts to make the motion but I am sure it would fail. It would most likely get a second but the buck would stop there. The next 5 to the right of Mary B would never vote for it. If they did I just might put some faith in this council.

jn said...

call the head coach about athletes playing just one sport? Why is his son not going to play basketball or baseball, only football. Negative things are happening, about time it is recognized.
School board needs to investigate this and take corrective action.