A Two-Way Conversation

To the Editor:

Last Thursday at 5 pm the Newtown Board of Selectmen held an “an informal and conversational meeting” with the public in the Alexandria Room of Edmond Town Hall. This hopefully, first of many conversations with our constituents came about after considerable delay from when it was first proposed six months ago.

The board finally agreed on February 17 of this year to hold these improved discussion meetings with the public. The attendance was poor for several reasons, including the fact that it was scheduled at 5 pm and that it was not widely advertised. Nevertheless, there was a most engaging discussion between citizens and selectmen on a number of topics which went on for almost two hours. It was very much what I envisioned and hoped for in my original efforts, as a board member, to achieve better communication and discussion between elected officials and townspeople. There were no competing items on an agenda to limit the time we could devote to our discussion. There were no minutes taken or tape recorders on the table. It was just people engaging their elected officials on any number of issues, asking questions, making comments and best of all getting responses in return. It was truly a discussion with information flowing in both directions. This is what we must do more of.

I will do all that I can to ensure that our next session is more widely publicized and held at a much more convenient hour. We will attempt to also schedule them at different locations in town to better accommodate all our citizens. Hopefully, in the future these sessions will become the gateway to more understanding and cooperation between all of us so that we can enact policies and develop strategies that will benefit from a much more thorough — and two-way — dialogue of the critical issues that face us.

Paul J. Mangiafico

15 Kent Road, Newtown                                                      May 3, 2009