As best I can tell, the Bristol Downtown Development Corp.'s hearings at the Little League complex and Bristol Central High School last Saturday were never posted at City Hall.
That's a violation of open government laws, though, of course, they were publicized. They weren't a secret, but they weren't posted as required.
The same thing is true of the hearing it held at the senior center this afternoon.
And it will be true again for the hearings slated for tomorrow at the two libraries.
That's a pretty big screwup on somebody's part - and perhaps one reason that it's hard for a nonprofit to follow government rules that it may not fully know.
It would seem that the hearings for Saturday should be postponed given that they were not posted in time at City Hall. As for the earlier hearings, well, there's no way to unring a bell.
Please be sure to read the comments for this post because they are, for a change, important.
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Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
30 comments:
There is no excuse for this. Downtown board chairman Frank Johnson is also Zoning Chairman and he should know all about the rules, so should former mayor John Leone, who is also on the downtown board. Downtown board member Janelle is a lawyer and she should know better too. This is not a board of average Joe's, they picked mostly insiders, and they should know better.
Hey, THEY all knew about them, so who else is there to tell?
Steve:
I found out this afternoon when Therese Pac called me that the meeting notices were not posted for these week’s meetings. I called our attorney Richard Sheridan of Levy and Droney and left a message but he was more than likely at the Senior Center meeting and thus unavailable to take or return my call.
Therese Pac called me back and said that the Agenda and notice of special meeting for Friday and Saturday's meetings had indeed arrived in the mail today. But because 24 hours notice is required the meeting for today and the morning meeting for tomorrow were not posted in time. The afternoon meeting is okay, I think.
I don't know why they weren't posted for last week and I probably can't find out until tomorrow or Monday.
For the convenience of the public I think we should go forward tomorrow morning but announce at the outset that it is not an official meeting because of the posting screw up, however we can still hear public comment without convening the meeting, adjourning the meeting or taking any votes. I think that would be fairer to the people who do show up at the library than sending them home with no opportunity for input. Obviously if anyone objects or we can’t go forward, we will have to cancel it.
Having staff within city government has great advantages. When Bill Stortz was a member of the BDDC and was acting Executive Director the notices were properly posted. Transitioning from having the BDDC operated through the Mayor’s office, to a pure volunteer effort, albeit with paid professionals, has created more than a few bumps in the road.
We ran press releases and sent the notice of the meetings out to many groups and individuals well in advance of the meetings. Certainly there was no intent to do anything wrong or run afoul of FOIA but we did.
I am sorry this happened. Suffice it say that every measure will be taken to assure that this never happens again. To anyone who was or is inconvenienced by this failure to post the notices properly, I sincerely am sorry. As the Chairman it is my responsibility and I accept full blame since it occurred on my watch.
Frank J Johnson, Chairman BDDC
I am the legal counsel to the Association. Meeting Agendas were prepared for all of these meetings well in advance and e-mailed to all members for approval. After that, due to a misunderstanding between my legal assistant and the office of the City Clerk, the meeting notices were mailed to the Clerk's office, rather than faxed or e-mailed, which meant that they did not arrive in a timely fashion. The blame is entirely mine, and I accept full responsibility. This is not the fault of Chairman Johnson, Directors Janelle or Leone, or any other BDDC Board member.
So will the city get a discount because of your blunder, Mr. Sheridan?
I will discuss this with the Board and will abide by whatever action they deem appropriate. If that involves an adjustment of our fees I would certainly understand. I accept full responsibility and apologize to the BDDC Board and the residents of Bristol for any embarrassment or inconvenience this may have caused.
Perhaps Mr. Sheridan can give the City a discount when the City hires him to defend the City in court after someone sues the City for it's new Recycling Program enforcement.
LOL Yeah...we know. Here we go again, chopping down integrity trees to make room for an accountablility grave yard. Random, I know.
Hee hee... integrity trees, accountability graveyard! I love it! Thanks for that. And so Bristol-appropriate, too.
But if Sheridan voluntarily takes a financial hit for this screw up, it would raise his standing in my book.
I believe this mistake was unintentional. But still. Didn't they hire "professionals" to take care of this very kind of thing? Hiring the executive director and law firm was supposed to answer all the prayers, as I recall.
They're not being paid peanuts, either.
Johnson shouldn't try to claim that losing Stortz meant that the compliance level slipped. Please. Stortz is no friend of FOI, and neither is Johnson. These hired professionals were supposed to have a grip on that. They claimed they knew all about it and were quite experienced with FOI and other public issues.
Leone should know about open government and the public's right to know?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Give me a freakin' break.
I'm glad to see someone stepping up and taking responsibility vs. blaming it on everyone else. If it happens once it is a mistake, if it happens again than I would consider it a little more serious.
And Attorney Janelle has what to say about this???
For someone who likes to play the Know-It-All, what would her excuse be?
Great....a legal counsel to the BDDC that relys on snail mail.
Technology is a beautiful thing. Maybe he should consider using it.
Can mayor Ward can get one of his friends to file a complaint with the State? They can blame it on Ellen for not scripting it.
Frank Johnson tries to be noble and except responsibility, but he knows there are no consequences so it's a free mistake. Let's see if he takes responsibility for Zoning actions he is personelly responsible for.
Attorney Sheriden. You take responsibility but you blame your secretary?
Attorney Janelle the allmighty. Whatever. I guess they picking on you because your a girl? No, because you are a lawyer and you should know better.
John Leone. He shouldn't even be working for the Chamber. Why is he qualified? Development was a disaster when he was Mayor, why is he on this board?
John Lodovico? what goes for Frank Johnson goes for Lodovico. At least Lodovico doesn't criticize the public for complaing.
Gardener Wright. the guy has been all over the political map for a long time with little to show. is his heart into it now?
Good Luck to them all, I hope they have a big success for all of us.
I assure anyone reading this blog that the BDDC has tried its best to comply with FOIA. Remember BDDC is not authorized to enact any plan; that power rests solely with the City Council. We are advisory only.
My friend, Bart Barnes, who was instrumental in FOIA's creation would revolve in his grave if he thought tomorrow's "workshops" not meetings were postponed because Steve Collins misinterpreted the intent of the law. He would not want the city to expend thousands of dollars unnecessarily because of bureaucracy.
I will be at both workshops for 2 hours to listen and discuss the downtown. Please come. I know all my fellow corporation members who can come will be there.
Tom Cosgrove
Vice Chairman
BDDC
Bart Barnes was my friend, too, and I have no doubt at all that he would have insisted that the open government law be obeyed completely.
I don't doubt for a second that an honest mistake was made. And it strikes me from reading the comments here that the mistake won't be repeated.
Whatever the BDDC chooses to do about it now is fine by me. I am not the last word on open government. But I will say that having an unofficial hearing, a solution offered by Frank Johnson, is almost certainly illegal, too. Either hold the hearing or don't. I won't file a complaint either way.
I'll be at the UConn game with my son, trying to stay warm.
Mr. Cosgrove, do not use Bart Barnes name so casually as the recognition of FOI has been here in Bristol. With so little attention to important details the BDDC ought to pack it in, bulldoze the mall and return the site to nature.
Knowing Bart, he would not be attending any BDDC meetings Saturday and instead would be down the Bowl for The Game -- go Blue
Although many requests were and are made, and honored, under FOI guidelines, when was the last time tha the city, under Stortz, Couture, Nicastro, and including the various boards, was charged with an FOI violation?
Maybe they didn't like it, but I do believe that Bristol has a good record of compliance.
Can any of the critics provide an answer?
Will they?
When will the sore losers stop cpmplaining ? It seemes like an monest mistake and people have taken responsability for it. Not everyone is as perfect as these people profess to be. Election is over !
Plenty of coulda woulda shoulda here...lots of mea culpa and piling on too. Bottem line in my book is that the BDDC is good and needs to carry on...quickly..to handle the task they need to handle . The operative word here is QUICKLY!!!
It's true! Bart would NEVER have condoned an important hearing being held at the same time that Yale's football team was going for its best record since 1909!!
It's probably a good thing Bart's not around to see what what happened when Yale faced Harvard today.
Where is Jay (I'm just Artie's friend) when we need him?
Oh my god my head hurts. I say now-wah lookie here!!
Invoking the name's of dead Barnes's does not Brook you and creditability. I mean that list goes (almost) all the way back to the beginning. Not to be a stickler for form, but I belive the term your looking for is "roll over in his (or her) grave."
And Gert never voted, yet complains and has all the answers? Give it a rest Ellen!
Don't be stupid. Ellen can't be Gert as she loves all these guys and thinks they do no wrong.
Kallenbach, how dare you paint yourself as a friend of Bart Barnes! He was a champion of open government and as civic minded as they come. You are just a small-minded, mean-spirited man.
Steve, where are the worthwhile comments you promised? I guess some at the top were okay, but things really slid downhill after that.
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