...and I've often felt forsaken and certainly misused (The Week Ahead in Norwich, CT, Municipal Meetings)

Shout out to begin:
Happy Birthday to my brother's bride and best wishes for many more to come! Suspect she has long ago discovered the true magic of being in the select soriority of women married to a Kenny. Yeah, I know someone else who shakes her head when I say stuff like that....;-)

There aren't too many, in terms of quantity, meetings this week in the Rose City, but for impact and importance, as well as diversity, you can dig in just about anywhere and attend something you would find of interest and value.

This afternoon at 5, the Redevelopment Agency whose last meeting doesn't yet have minutes posted to the city's web site, meets in Room 210 at City Hall. I know, and know of, some of the members on this volunteer panel and they, like so many who give of their time and talents, are very determined to improve where all of us live.

Also Monday, at 6 PM, in room 335 is the Charter Review Committee whose membership has yet to make the City's website for what I am assuming may be close to their final meeting before reporting back to the City Council. There have been enough headlines in recent weeks on what the recommendations of these five local lawyers may be in terms of language changes and larger revisions to last some of us a lifetime. Suspect soon we'll learn again the difference between public policy and politics and others will become reacquainted with the notion of groundswell.

Tuesday morning at 8 in room 335 is a meeting of the Norwich Semiseptennial Committee which has been busy and buzzing for months in anticipation of next year's observances. I was a little crestfallen that they've yet to make an appearance on the city's web listing of agencies, boards and commissions, but that has a great deal to do with how they were chartered, I'm told, in terms of constraints, liabilities and responsibilities--and why their website is a dot com and not, like the city's, a dot org. In much the spirit of Bruce Cockburn, I'm Wondering Where the Lions Are, assuming you substitute dollars for the king of the jungle.

At five Tuesday afternoon in Room 219 is the regular meeting of the Harbor Management Commission. They held a special meeting on 15 September whose minutes are here.

The Board of Education meets at 6 Tuesday night in Kelly Middle School, but be advised if you were interested in reading the agenda for Tuesday's meeting or minutes of their previous meetings, you're close to SOL, Public Law or no Public Law requirements. Considering the amount of the city budget dedicated to support the BOE (and by extension our children, though sometimes we lose sight of that) more transparency on the Board's part isn't only appreciated but should also be required.

Also at six, crosstown at 173 North Main Street (the NPU Customer Service Center) is a meeting of the Board of Public Utilities Commissioners (includes Sewer Authority) (sic) whose agenda and meeting minutes haven't yet made it to the city's website. Norwich owns its own utilities company and in comparison to our neighbors (and I've asked because I'm nosy and noisy) our rates for water, gas, electricity, etc (Etcetera is code for the opposite of shinola), we do well in terms of costs and service.

There's a special meeting Wednesday morning at 11 of the Housing Authority. The purpose of the special meeting is contained in the agenda, which seems to me to be about information technology support contracting.

Thursday afternoon at four in City Council Chambers at City Hall, and it should be a HUGE deal but we're all too busy and it will pass by in an instant, is a New Citizen Graduation ceremony sponsored by Norwich Adult Education. In light of who we are and where we are, and most especially in light of how we've far yet to go, welcome--we need all the help we can get.

We come on the ship they call the Mayflower.
We come on the ship that sailed the moon
We come in the age's most uncertain hours
And sing an American tune.
-bill kenny