Under the hood but dreaming of the steering wheel

In many small towns and municipalities, not just here in Connecticut, but across the country, we have volunteers, either elected to offices of public responsibility, or helping out in a thousand different ways on a hundred different advisories, boards, commissions and committees. In Norwich CT, though it's not a complete listing, you can get a taste for so many people in the same device by going here on the municipal website.

As of Wednesday, the start of the new Federal fiscal year, and a customary start date on the state calendar for new legislation to go into effect, we, in Norwich and across the Land of Steady Habits, will see major (and not just cosmetic) changes in how our municipal websites share information on how volunteers hold official meetings, what those agendas (I always want to type agendae. You can take the boy out of Latin class but you can't get the Latin out of the boy) are, and the records of their past actions (meeting minutes).

Back in June, during a special session of the CT legislature, Public Act 08-3 added bone and muscle to the state's Freedom of Information Act and will require all meeting minutes and notices of special meetings to be posted on the town's website within the same deadlines reserved for posting in the office of the City Clerk (that means, for meeting minutes, within seven calendar days of the meeting; for notices of special meetings (to include the agenda for the special meeting, two working days) which is also true for notices of regular meetings (though if the chairperson of each citizen panel has submitted a schedule of the entire year's meetings, before 15 December, the City Clerk's office will do the posting).

See? Skip a class in high school civics, and look at what you missed. I mention almost all of the above because tonight in Norwich's City Hall, Room 335 at 6 PM is a workshop offered by the State of Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission (though it doesn't show up on their calender of events. Hmmm....) for aldermen and all members of the advisories, boards, commissions and committees in Norwich as well as those of us in the great unwashed (in my case, more latter than former) who like to know what other people know when they know it.

I never attribute to malice that which can be explained by ignorance, so a year and half ago when the Norwich City Council was struggling with their own political Thomas Becket which prompted a workshop by the FOI Commission, I assumed those engaged in that behavior were ignorant rather than malicious, though I'd watched some of them close up and knew otherwise. They weren't and aren't alone.

A neighboring community not too far from Norwich held an executive session about the behavior of one of its employees some months ago (I'm not naming the town or the person, because I don't live there and fair's fair), that became an executive session about other items and other people as well, without those people being in the room. Someone filed a formal complaint and those folks got a visit from the FOI Commission who do have the authority to levy fines against municipal officials, elected and professional, for continued misbehavior (that happened in Norwich about a decade ago; we've literally 'been there and done that' when it comes to playing fast and loose. We not only wrote the book, some of us stole it as well).

None of this doesn't mean I won't nag you next Monday in the hopes of alerting you to something that might have otherwise gotten lost in the noise, but, in theory, I (and you) should also be able to go to a link and download both the full agenda for a meeting we wish to attend and also access the minutes of the previous meetings (yes, we can go to City Hall and for a nominal fee, get paper copies, but the hard part for me is getting to the City Clerk's office while it's still open as my bosses are sort of sticklers about showing up and staying at the job. Maybe yours too?).

So there's tonight's FOI workshop in Room 335 at 6 P. M..

There's a meeting of the (Kelly Middle) School Building Committee on Wednesday at 5:30 P. M. in the school central office (it used to be called the John Mason School but we've since learned one man's ceiling is another man's floor) across from the Norwichtown Green. I wonder if that agenda and previous meetings' minutes will be posted to the municipal website since Wednesday is the first of October. The membership is listed on the city's website but no other information.

Same is true for the Board of Education which, as I mentioned last week, posts (in theory) its meeting notices and minutes on their own website and will now, I assume, have to do so on the city's site, which is only logical since they are a department of the City of Norwich, no matter how annoying some on the Board may find that concept.

Also Wednesday, at 6:30 P. M. in Room 335 of City Hall will be the Youth and Family Services Commission. I plead guilty to not knowing who is on it or what their function is and how well they are succeeding; I suppose we could find out together this Wednesday night, right?

Finally, on Thursday, at 7 P. M. in room 108 (which is downstairs and is a really goofily-laid out room) in City Hall is a meeting of the Inland Wetlands, Watercourses and Conservation Committee. Another group, I assume, of very hard-working and well-meaning people whose identities and areas of responsibility are completely unknown to me. Their luck will eventually run out and I can only hope they will be good sports when that happens.

Tonight's FOI workshop will have a second installment, as sundown is also the start of Rosh Hashanah which, as a Loyal Son of Holy Mother Church, I've always understood to be the 'Jewish New Year' and is also the first of the Ten Days of Repentance that concludes with Yom Kippur. Considering the state of the world, I imagine, much like Levy's, we could all benefit from some atonement.
-bill kenny