Amongst and between all the Christmas shopping, holiday hubbub, and seasons' greetings sloganeering, the business of government, unglamorous as it often is, goes on. And as much as we rail about it, it's that lack of glamour that keeps those engaged in it from getting distracted and allows all of us to benefit from municipal routines that run because we have neighbors to man them and guide them.
Next Sunday in Norwich, we'll have the Annual holiday parade complete with marching bands, floats and little cars piloted by people with fez hats (or did I get that backwards? I hope not) but don't think we're gonna coast all week. We're not, and neither are the neighbors who make up our boards and commissions that work for all of us.
This afternoon at five is a special meeting (and listed as a workshop) of the Board of Education at the Norwich Inn and Spa on the "Roles and Responsibilities of Board Members presented by CABE". CABE is the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education and while the meeting is intended for new members of the Board of Education (I think there are TWO, of nine, who would not have received this presentation), parents and residents are certainly welcome (or should be).
At five fifteen, in their offices at 1642 Route 12, Gales Ferry, it's a regular meeting of the Southeastern Connecticut Water Authority. I mention them, even though Norwich Public Utilities provides the water here in The Rose City because, we're all learning to think regionally and potable water is one of those universal, and extremely finite, resources that impacts everyone. We are all joined at the spigot and not looking beyond your own drinking tap is short-sighted. I'll get off my soap box now, before someone is tempted to kick it out from under me.
Tuesday evening at 7:30 is an organizational meeting of the Norwich City Council. The meeting agenda outlines how our new Mayor and alderpersons hope to approach their job of governance, and include some changes in the conduct of their meetings. There's been mumbling about the proposed changes, which is part of who we are and how we roll, but before anyone gets too exorcised, what if we let the ladies and gentlemen we elected sort themselves out first? Being one of seven on the City Council is not the easiest job in Norwich, and, in light of approaching challenges (known and unknown), will be even less so in the coming months. When our Mayor and City Council succeed, ALL of us succeed. Go us (or go home).
Wednesday afternoon it's such a deal for you especially if you like meetings but hate having to go to different places to take part in them....We're talking not one, not two, but three in a row (I'd say three-peat but Pat Riley owns the rights). How can we do it for so little, you ask. Volume! We hold the meetings enmasse and pass the savings on to you! Just remember the address, 23 Union Street, and be there by five because that's when the Board of Review for Dangerous Buildings meets, though judging from the posted minutes (September is the most recent) perhaps there's been more danger than we know in recent months.
At six fifteen, it's the first of two sub-committees (I call them that, because all the members of them are also on the Board of Review) in a regular meeting of the 21 West Thames Street Advisory Committee followed at 6:30 (or when the previous meeting ends) by the 751 North Main Street Advisory Committee. Committees like these are posters for how all change is incremental and why it requires a lot of work. If you've been by either of the properties, you can already appreciate the scale and scope of what our neighbors have to do to make a difference.
At seven, in Room 335 of City Hall, is a regular meeting of the Republican Town Committee and now that Chief Pudge has finally made me smart enough to understand who can go and who can speak, I can't make this month's meeting (proving there is a Cosmic Prankster). Actually, since my recollection is that sometimes this meeting gets moved, I'd suggest checking a local newspaper Wednesday morning to confirm the meeting place.
Thursday afternoon at three-thirty in the John Mason School, now the Norwich Public Schools Central Office (across from the Norwichtown Green), is a regular meeting of the Board of Education's Budget Expenditure Committee whose web page has agenda (but no minutes) from two meetings in April and no others, at all. The reductions in state grants and aid to municipalities, including Norwich, may have impacts yet to be determined on our schools, and this committee would be the first group of citizen-volunteers to attempt to manage that change.
At seven, at 23 Union Street, it's a regular meeting of the Inlands, Wetlands, Water Courses and Conservation Commission whose last posted meeting minutes on the city's website are a draft from September . I'm not sure, and I've read variations of it in other minutes, what to make of 'absent with notification' or 'excused' when reporting the absence of members. The charter of the City of Norwich (Chapter XVIII, Section 12) doesn't recognize nuances. You're present or you're absent. Nothing else matters. And why do we have Roman numerals rubbing shoulders with Arabic numbers anyway? Who, among us, watches Fox LXI? That's what I thought (it's IX on my cable box, if you were wondering).
Finally, at ten o'clock Friday morning in their offices (at SCCOG) at 5 Connecticut Avenue in the Norwich Business Park, it's a regular meeting of the Route 11 Greenway Authority Commission who are another example of regionalization, albeit for some more of a cautionary tale. I leave it to much more talented people in Hartford and Washington DC to better and more fully explain Route 11 and its progress, or lack thereof. Perhaps if we renamed it Route XI....?
What happens if we stop seeing government as something done TO us and see it as something we do FOR ourselves? Stop letting somebody else do all the heavy lifting. The easiest part of the earth to change is the plot we're standing on. Start local and be vocal.
"...I think you like to be the victim/I think you like to be in pain."
-bill kenny
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