Second Democratic Position Paper Espouses Transparency, ‘Shared Intelligence’

By John Voket

Under the heading of “Shared Intelligence,” the Democratic team of Gary Fetzer and Joe Hemingway released a second position paper expounding on the need for transparency, better communication, and increased trust among local elected officials.

In a release issued by Mr Fetzer, a former town selectman seeking the first selectman’s seat, he said, “Studies have shown, and common sense confirms, the idea that trust is built between residents and their elected officials if there are clear, honest, transparent communications, and that the public feels that their views are being taken into consideration.”

As an added benefit, Mr Fetzer contends that trust and transparency “encourages new voices with specific expertise to participate in helping the town move forward, and exposes new and innovative solutions to problems that the community is facing.”

The position paper is broken down into two parts: immediate actions and long-term goals.

Among the immediate actions the Fetzer/Hemingway team hope to take include changing the way public participation is carried out at selectmen meetings.

“The Fetzer/Hemingway team will experiment with having residents speak before the issue of their concern is being discussed,” the position paper states. “If managed correctly, this will not take any additional time, and would be more meaningful and relevant for both the board and the community.”

If elected, Mr Fetzer said he will expand office hours to selected evenings and weekends when the public can come in, ask questions or give their concerns. He said that schedule will be posted on the Internet.

The Fetzer/Hemingway team also pledged to hold monthly meetings in different neighborhoods throughout the town, to “allow the public to put a face on their elected officials, express their concerns and ask questions while allowing the town’s elected officials to get a better sense of those residents’ concerns and needs.” At these gatherings, if appropriate, Mr Fetzer will call department heads or members of volunteer boards or commissions to attend.

And to improve communications and build trust between elected and appointed officials, Mr Fetzer said he will call regular meetings with representatives from various boards and commissions to “discuss those issues that may affect each other. It will not be necessary for chairman to attend, but rather a member can bring information back to their members.”

Future Plans

In the future, Mr Fetzer and Mr Hemingway envision having all board and commission meetings broadcast on the town’s website, giving the public an opportunity to watch meetings live or through streaming replays.

“It is more effective to hear everything that is being said, hear the intonations, context, and facial expressions,” the position paper states. “We will look to receive additional grant funds to create such a pilot program, and by utilizing technology cost savings can be achieved.”

Mr Fetzer said he would also explore technology that could permit members of the public to ask questions online during Board of Selectmen meetings.

“Obviously these would have to be screened and individuals would need a secure way to identify themselves,” Mr Fetzer stated in the release.

Finally, the Fetzer/Hemingway team wants to see Newtown’s official website upgraded to provide an answer to all questions about municipal government that the public may have.

“That means the site needs to be expanded and each department and commission should take responsibility to make it a useful tool,” Mr Fetzer said.

To widen citizen participation, promote an informed discussion of issues, and encourage citizens as individuals or groups to identify issues and propose solutions, Mr Fetzer said the town website should include both message boards and forums.

“This is a logical next step so department heads or commission members can answer questions online and people can follow the answers and perhaps read the answer to their question that another resident already asked,” Mr Fetzer stated.

This is the second in a series of position papers released by the top of ticket Democratic contenders. The initial release, in part. suggested supplementing the work of town employees with volunteers — freeing paid town workers to perform higher priority or specialized tasks, and to save taxpayer dollars.

That idea was met with mixed reactions from members of town government and its workforce.

Noble, Progressive Ideas

While virtually everyone who responded to the suggestion agreed it was a noble and progressive idea, most of the individuals contacted expressed concerns about the town’s liability for volunteers, along with possible conflicts with labor contracts that could trigger union grievances.

First Selectman Joe Borst and Human Resources Director Carole Ross pointed out Section 11.07 in the town’s public work contract that states: “Whenever practical, regular full time employees shall have first preference for all overtime work before part-time, temporary or seasonal employees are used.”

Carl Samuelson, Newtown’s director of parks, said similar language appears in the Parks & Recreation union workers’ contract.

Mr Borst and Ms Ross also questioned who would oversee the volunteers as they performed the volunteer work. Mr Samuelson said it would be likely that some paid staff would be required to oversee volunteers in nearly any capacity.

“And what if somebody got hurt volunteering and could not do their own job, would that come back as a workers comp claim against the town?” Mr Samuelson asked.

Public Works Director Fred Hurley said the idea was not new, and that the former Newtown Environmental Action Team posed a similar initiative some years ago, and were initially successful in doing road cleanup projects. Mr Hurley said while volunteers did the front-line cleanup, paid town workers in trucks drove around picking up trash bags filled with debris.

But he said this and a number of other volunteer activities reverted to paid workers once the initial enthusiasm began to wane, “and the liability issue never goes away.”

Mr Hurley said maybe the town could pay for special liability coverage for the volunteers, but that would in and of itself generate costs against the possible nominal savings achieved — despite the fact that such cleanups present an overall quality of life enhancement that was intangible.

Both Mr Hurley and Ms Ross recalled the multitude of volunteers who came together to complete a playground project at Dickinson Park, and both thought that type of single strategic project would lend itself to the Team Newtown approach.

School district Human Resources Director Joan Libby said any volunteer work that might infringe upon work that could be done by contract or union employees would generally be prohibited.

“To do it in a way that made any financial difference...I’m not sure,” Ms Libby said. “I would have to look at each specific [labor] contract and consider the ideas on a case-by-case basis.”

Contacted Thursday afternoon after the print edition of The Bee went to press, Mr Fetzer said a volunteer-driven initiative could go far towards completing tasks not budgeted for. While he said more specifics would be forthcoming on the plan, Mr Fetzer was adamant about sitting down with town employees to be sure there was a buy-in on the volunteer support plan from their perspective.

“We’ve talked to a lot of residents, but we haven’t had a lot of opportunities to talk with town workers who I’m sure will bring even more good ideas to the table,” he said. “We want to help existing employees do a better job than they can do now.”

Mr Fetzer said that today the challenge is maintaining services with an eye on the bottom line, but as the community grows, he knows even more paid town employees will be required to deliver basic municipal and school services. Whether it’s having our seniors help out tutoring in the schools, or residents riding along as a second set of eyes on snow plow runs, Mr Fetzer is confident the Team Newtown approach will pay off.

“We’ll work out the details,” he said. “It’s all about turning things around – doing what people said we can’t do.”

As part of the Fetzer/Hemingway campaign kickoff this Saturday, the aspiring candidates are planning to lead a group of volunteers in a limited local roadside cleanup.