Communications breakdown

Some electronic connections with Town Hall not working

Town Council chambers refurbishments - a new Cone of Silence?

By Will Collette

I wanted to check out the Town Council’s June 23 special meeting where the Council discussed the idea of buying another piece of property – this one near the General Stanton Inn – for open space. An interesting idea, given that Charlestown has spent every nickel of voter-approved open space money to buy the land proposed as the site for the Whalerock wind turbines.

Maybe the Town found a stash of Civil War bonds hidden in the walls when the Town Council chambers were refurbished. Or a bequest of Bitcoins. I really was curious to hear how the Council proposed to come up with the money for the land which is on the market for $250,000.

Except there’s no video link in the Clerkbase listing for the June 23 meeting.

I sent an e-mail to Town Administrator Mark Stankiewicz and Town Clerk Amy Weinreich asking if there was going to be a video link added in.

My e-mail to both of them bounced, with this message telling me why it was bounced:

I wonder if "Will Collette" is among the banned words on the Town's e-mail system

I e-mailed Mr. Stankiewicz at his home e-mail, apologizing for the intrusion, but noting that I was blocked from e-mailing him through normal channels.

No reply.

However, that missing video link isn’t the only problem.

There is no video link for the Council’s agenda planning meeting that was held on Wednesday – if that link had been provided, we could at least see what they discussed for the upcoming meeting.

There is also no video link for the Council workshop that took place just before the agenda meeting to discuss “management meeting procedure.” You'll just have to guess what that was about.

Town Clerk Weinreich normally posts the agenda for the regular monthly Town Council meeting on Thursday morning following the Council’s agenda meeting, and generally has the document links attached by the end of the day. Today, the agenda went up near to close of business and there were no document links. The Town Council meeting preview will have to wait until tomorrow.

Given the quantity and complexity of the agenda for Council meetings, every hour of access helps citizens to understand what their town government is up to, and provides the Westerly Sun and Progressive Charlestown with time to look behind those agenda items.

The town did meet the minimal requirements of the state Open Meetings Act by posting the agenda for the upcoming Council meeting with the Secretary of State’s office, though not on Clerkbase. But meeting the bare minimum legal requirement is hardly in keeping with the controlling CCA Party’s pledge to “open, transparent and efficient government.” Then again, I think most Charlestown residents know the CCA Party's promises are crap.

Most Charlestown citizens wouldn’t know where to look on the Secretary of State’s website to find the agenda. Ass you can see if you click here, there are no links to supporting documents.

There have been lots of renovations going on at Town Hall and these communications problems could be related to that. The town also plans to switch from the existing Clerkbase system to a more user-friendly system called IQM2.

However, there is no notice posted on the Town’s official website to warn citizens about any of these communication glitches or to indicate any alternatives or work-arounds – such as getting the agenda from the Secretary of State. I think most residents would understand about interruptions in service, but only if the Town actually says something. 

Admitting there have been problems would be a good place to start.