Where's Waldo? (Working on policy...)

Years ago, when my older children were the age of my youngest, there was a series of books titled, "Where's Waldo" that featured a character (Waldo) that the reader had to find amongst the crowds of people depicted on every page. Readers of this blog might think that I've become something of a Waldo, as there haven't been too many posts of late.

In fact, I've been rather busy with my responsibilities as selectman, working on a variety of things, some of which aren't quite ready for prime time. But some are starting to come to fruition.

It's my personal opinion that the selectmen don't utilize all of the authority granted to them in the town charter. For example, the power of investigation. You all know my thoughts about that.

There is also the authority to make policy. In all honesty, policy can be pretty bland, but it is a very powerful tool. For example, while the town manager is responsible for the day-to-day management of the town, the selectmen can set policies which control how the town will be managed. More on this later...

One of those 'behind-the-scenes' things is - perhaps ironically - a policy which expands upon the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law by setting minimum requirements for the posting of meeting announcements, agendas and minutes. A few months back, one of my constituents - frustrated by a lack of information about meetings that were supposed to be "public" - approached me about developing rules for posting agendas and minutes online, so anyone can access them from anywhere at anytime.

On Monday, the Board of Selectmen will be discussing the first draft of that effort. Here are the proposed rules:

1. Announcements for all public meetings shall be posted on the town website in accordance with the Open Meeting Law;

2. Agendas for all public meetings shall be posted on the town website at least forty-eight hours, including Saturdays but not Sundays and legal holidays, prior to the meeting;

3. Under no circumstances shall any item be added to any agenda once that agenda has been posted in accordance with #2;

4. Items may be removed from a published agenda at any time. Items removed from a published agenda will be noted at the start of the public meeting, and again during the meeting at the time scheduled for that item, with an explanation of the reason(s) for the removal;

5. Items on a published agenda may be tabled or continued to a later time or date, but may not be moved earlier in the agenda;

6. For all boards, committees or commissions which meet weekly, minutes for all public meetings shall be posted on the town website no later than two days after the second meeting after the meeting in question;

7. In the event that a board, committee or commission meets less than once per week, draft minutes shall be posted on the town website within two weeks, and shall be clearly marked as draft until such time as the final, approved minutes can be posted in accordance with this policy;

8. As per Article III, Section C3-2.A. of the Falmouth Home Rule Charter, the Town Manager and other officers, and all boards, committees and commissions appointed by the Board of Selectmen shall be bound by this policy;

9. It shall be the responsibility of the Town Manager to ensure that all officers and the Chair of each board, committee and commission appointed by the Board of Selectmen are able to carry out this policy.

There's nothing terribly onerous about this proposed policy. Basically, all it does is require that 1) agendas be finalized and posted so that the public can participate and 2) minutes be posted in a timely fashion. It doesn't sound like much, but when we're talking about the machinery of government, every effort to keep things open and transparent is BIG.