Special Selectmen Meeting.. Questionable Notice Provided..

Glen Stadig — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 00:54:37 +0000

I received an email from resident Chris Gilpatrick this afternoon saying he had called the Town Hall and spoke with the Selectmen Secretary. He was inquiring if a meeting was being held this evening and the answer he received was YES there would be a meeting at 6:30pm. I was shocked, there had been no listing of the meeting in the Town Calendar only listings of the Tuesday workshops, town holidays and other Selectmen Meetings later in the month. I wrote the Selectmen an email immediately stating I did not believe proper public notice was given and that the meeting should be re-scheduled since it was not officially and or properly posted.

I arrived at the Town Hall at 6:25pm to see a hand written notice on the door stating there would be a Selectmen Workshop Wednesday morning at 9:30am. There was a similar notice in the posting area outside. There was also No notice of cancellation for the non-scheduled meeting and no official people around.

I returned home and went to the Facebook and saw a posting at 7pm stating a Special Selectmen Meeting was to be held on Wednesday morning at 9:30am. I ask you is 14 1/2 hours of notice via a post on a Social networking website reasonable notice for a meeting? Shouldn’t all official meetings be posted on the Town Website with a minimum of 24 hours ( in extreme emergency situations).

The Right-To-Know law says something like reasonable public notice which leaves things a bit open to interpretation. I don’t believe the expectation of the Law is that Town Residents are expected to drive by the Town Hall daily to see if a meeting is posted on the door or outside cabinet. I don’t understand why a meeting can’t be properly called with reasonable proper public notice.

If the original meeting was missed in error o.k. re-schedule for later in the week at night, post it on the website and shoot it to the papers. Give residents a reasonable couple days notice. Why does something so simple seem to be so hard? This is not an emergency..If it does have time pressure why not do it at the last meeting?

On the Town Hall door the meeting is posted as a Workshop, but on Facebook it says Special Selectmen Meeting… It would seem to me election of a New Chairperson is an official meeting and should be posted that way, not as a Workshop, it is all misleading. Combine the misleading with the short notice and it all just seems wrong.

I think the recent initiatives by the Town to use Facebook and alternate media channels is great…However, there is also an excellent email posting systems already employed by the town for notifying people directly of public notices just like this meeting, why not use them?

Not everyone uses Facebook even for those that do, 14 1/2 hours is simply not enough notice in my opinion and falls well short of the intent of the Law.

York County Budget Meeting Posponed to Jan 14th

Glen Stadig — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:38:10 +0000

Budget Committee meeting to discuss proposed cuts to Sheriff Patrol has been postponed until next Wednesday January 14th at 7pm.

Selectmen Meeting with Auditor – Tommorow – Oct 3 – 1pm

Glen Stadig — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:52:28 +0000

The selectmen will be meeting tomorrow Oct 3rd at 1pm with the new town auditor at the Town Hall. I was told by the town hall they will be discussing and reviewing “things”. I was also told public notice was posted because all three selectmen are expected to be present. Therefore the public is welcome to come listen and attend, even though it’s a mid afternoon meeting. Let’s fill the chairs!

Thanks to Corinna Cole for the heads-up, I still can’t find the posting on the town website.

Our Voice : Citizens For a Better Lebanon Maine » Meeting Notice

Special Selectmen Meeting.. Questionable Notice Provided..

York County Budget Meeting Posponed to Jan 14th

Selectmen Meeting with Auditor – Tommorow – Oct 3 – 1pm