Council’s Administration Panel

Hopes To Broaden Communication

By John Voket

Legislative Councilman George Ferguson’s first reaction to a package of five objectives proposed by Administration Committee Chairman Gary Davis was blunt. “We’re gonna need an army.”

But after about 20 minutes of discussion surrounding the proposals March 3, he fell in line with Mr Davis and fellow committee members Ben Spragg and Jan Andras in unanimously adopting a recommendation of those objectives to the full council.

If agreed upon by the full body, the objectives would revert to charges, and the committee would be bound to report on the progress of each charge as the balance of its members’ elected terms progressed through the fall of 2011.

The five final objectives were refined from eight ideas originally floated for discussion by Mr Davis at the committee’s last meeting February 3. Mr Davis reported that since the earlier meeting, he met with First Selectman Pat Llodra and Council Chairman Jeff Capeci to discuss the original ideas incorporating comments from the full committee.

The final recommendations include: providing budget reviews of town agencies and departments tied to administrative functions; overseeing issues tied to the improved communication of town- and council-related business to the general public; supporting the town’s already robust variety of long-range planning initiatives; a full review of council regulations; and working with the first selectman and other agents to improve grant writing outcomes.

In discussing the long-range planning issue, Mr Davis acknowledged that “the public at large really doesn’t have a clue” about the existing long-range planning initiatives ongoing in the community. He also agreed that it is neither the administration committee’s nor the council’s objective to initiate its own long-range planning effort.

“We’re not going to create it, we don’t own it,” Mr Davis said. “But we can help pull together [and promote] what everybody else is doing.”

Regarding the expanding use of communications tools to help make more details available to a broadening audience, Mr Davis said he would not only depend on cable access broadcasts of town board and budget meetings along with audio transcripts that might be made available by The Bee through its website.

Instead, he suggested the committee also examine social media tools and technology that could be made available through the town’s own website to broaden the opportunities for residents and taxpayers to access the information they may be looking for on a host of issues.

Mr Davis provided the committee’s recommendation to the full council later that evening, with plans to hear full deliberations on the objectives in the near future.