Monday, March 14, 2011

Hold Us at the Center While the Spiral Unwinds

Now we've got a whole extra hour of daylight, eh? Let's think about spending it indoors at a municipal meeting. No-actually, I'm not kidding but thanks for the thought.....and there's enough variety in this week's schedule to provoke as much thought as any brain, or group of brains can stand.

This afternoon at five in Room 210 of City Hall, it's a regular meeting of the Ethics Commission; I can't find their February meeting minutes but here's a draft of their January minutes. At six, there's a special meeting of the Golf Course Authority on what, reading the agenda, sounds like an employee relations issue in search of a happy ending.

Tuesday at five-thirty, we have a triple offering, a double-dip plus one-actually what we have is more than any one person can possibly attend. I'm listing them in the order they're on the city's website so I don't get accused of playing favorites (I know 'Playing favorites, you? Pshaw!' Thanks.).

The Norwich Free Academy Board of Trustees meets in Room 6109 of the Latham Science Center on the campus of NFA. The Public Parking Commission meets in the Buckingham Memorial and for those who claim 'they' never listen to 'us' (whomever those two groups are, please notice the alterations to downtown parking signs and tell me again about the nobody listens thing). What? Your lips are moving, I cannot hear. Here are the January draft minutes.

And there's a joint meeting of the Board of Education and the City Council in the Kelly Middle School cafeteria (remember, bus your trays) but this is NOT a meeting on the proposed 2011-2012 school budget but rather on the Norwich Education EXcellence for Today and Tomorrow's Schools (NEXTT). If the next budget is future, this meeting is future pluperfect and necessary since our children are the ones who will live all of their tomorrows bounded by decisions we make today.

At six, in Room 319 of City Hall it's a regular meeting of the Personnel and Pension Board. All of their members' appointments have expired which, considering the alternative, is an easier fix and hopefully the City Council will get to the repairs soon enough.
And at seven, in the basement conference room of the Planning Department at 23 Union Street, it's a regular meeting of the Commission on the City Plan.

Wednesday morning at nine, in the community room of the Dime Bank on Route 82, it's a regular meeting of the Norwich School Readiness Council (Children First) and I've actually run out of things, caustic and otherwise, to say about their website.

At six, in Room 210 of City Hall it's a special meeting (because last week's meeting was cancelled) of the Norwich Baseball Stadium Authority and at six thirty, upstairs in City Hall, in Room 335, it's a regular meeting of the Sachem Fund Board and while there are some intriguing stories circulating as to what might be on the agenda, you can assume among other items will be approving the minutes of their last meeting in May of last year. I'm looking forward to an entertaining and informative meeting, even if I have to go elsewhere, perhaps to another town, to find one (kidding, I think).

Thursday evening at six it's a regular meeting of the Ice Arena Authority at The Rink. We're now three months into the new year and the most recent meeting minutes are from December of last year.

Friday morning at nine in Room 319, it's a regular meeting of the Chelsea Gardens Foundation which has no other listing on the city's website to suggest who is in it, what they do or what they have done or hope to do. Considering we had the start of Daylight Savings Time yesterday and this is Sunshine Week, maybe we could take a giant step into the present and update large sections of the city's website in need of maintenance. I don't really care in what language the repairs are affected as long as they start.

Saturday morning at nine, in the Central Fire House, it's the next meeting of Team Norwich and if you're in the sound of my voice (remember that from the radio?), consider yourself invited. Instead of wishing that 'someone would step up' try being the person who does. Four out of five doctors recommend it (or would). A heart just can't contain all of that empty space. And we can always do better together than we can alone or on our own.
-bill kenny

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