"Police officers put the badge on every morning, not knowing for sure if they'll come home at night to take it off."
~Tom Cotton

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Proposed policies for the execution of our agendas

Madam Chair, and members of the Board;

I propose the following, interrelated policies related to the execution of our agendas.

Purpose:

To make better use of the Board's time during our weekly meetings, and to ensure that all of the Board's business is finished.

Process:

1) The Board of Selectmen, and every town board, committee and commission which falls under the jurisdiction of the Board's policy making authority, shall utilize Robert's Rules of Order as the final governing authority for all public meetings.

2) There shall be on the agenda at every regularly scheduled selectmen's meeting an opportunity for the Board to review, discuss and plan upcoming agendas.

3) The Town Manager shall submit to the Board every Friday, in writing, a weekly report of his/her activities. The Town Manager shall be prepared to address any questions from the Board during the selectmen's meeting, but shall not read his/her report unless specifically requested by the Board.

Payoff:

To prevent and avoid confusion and/or conflict over the rules;
To provide town committees and the general public with a clear understanding of how public meetings will be run;
To better prepare the Board for upcoming meetings and agendas;
To better manage and complete the Board's unfinished business;
To make more efficient use of the Board's time during meetings.


Madam Chair, Please consider putting this on our agenda for discussion by the Board.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Careful what you wish for.....should you choose to adopt Roberts Rules of Order - someone will have to learn them.....

Anonymous said...

Do you really want the town manager spending a big chunk of his time writing reports every week? Sounds like micromanagement to me.