February 12, 2008

After school activities KO'd in Bristol today

Worried about the weather, Bristol schools have cancelled after school activities today.
Not that anyone cares, but I think the city should have a policy that requires the cancellation of evening municipal government meetings whenever the schools shut down or they cancel school activities.
It's not really conducive to open government to hold meetings when conditions may be treacherous.

Update: Mayor Art Ward said he's looking into the possibility of postponing the meeting. It may not be possible given the charter's mandate that monthly meetings be held on the second Tuesday, but perhaps there's a way to finesse that. In any case, watch this space before venturing out for the council meeting because it's possible there won't be one.

7 p.m. Update: I haven't talked to the mayor tonight, but the meeting certainly seems to be on. Two council members and Roald Erling from the Board of Finance are here, as are Nutmeg TV's cameras.

10 p.m. Update: Ward said there is no way to cancel a regular monthly meeting of the City Council under current municipal law. He asked the Ordinance Committee to look into the issue to try to come up with a way to postpone sessions when the weather is particularly bad, or if some other crisis were to come up.
City Councilor Frank Nicastro, a former mayor, said that making a provision to put off a meeting is "a good idea."

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Steve, I cannot agree with your premise that "It's not really conducive to open government to hold meetings when conditions may be treacherous".

It may not be safe to attend a city meeting when conditions are treacherous, but it has nothing to do with open government. Take a look at the coverage: Nutmeg, BRISTOL PRESS, HARTOFRD COURANT, OBSERVER and not the least of which, this blog site.

Now, if you think holding this meeting will limit the amount of public participation because of treacherous weather, I'll give you that. However, many of the public comments made at recent Council meetings and certainly prior to the last election did nothing for "Open Government."

If that were open government, heaven help us. I heard rude, inappropriate, vulgar and at times, comments that bordered on slander. If citizens cannot speak or write (this blog included) with more civility, I respectfully ask that they simply read the newspaper or watch television.

Anonymous said...

Different criteria, different criticality.

And, Special meetings are somewhat restrictive.

Anonymous said...

I just found out UConn Law closed down for the evening and cancelled classes. That never happens, what with the American Bar Association regulations on minimum hours in the classroom.

You would think there would be some sort of provision for the cancelling and rescheduling of meetings, especially when you're talking about New England weather. If you venture out tonight, be careful.

Anonymous said...

Good for Art. He's thinking of people's safety. It's the decent and fair thing to do. And yes, open government does mean opening it to everyone, which is why meetings at dawn, meetings that run till midnight and meetings in terrible weather (all of which we've seen in Bristol) are not fair to citizens who may want to attend but the times make it impossible, dangerous or both.

Anonymous said...

Art,

Easy to cancel a meeting: council members do not show up.

OR, adjourn to a date and time certain.

I am sure that ther is a way.

Anonymous said...

Not too hard to get to if you live in town.

Anonymous said...

To the 7:27 poster:
Think of someone besides yourself for a change. This isn't about out of towners.
It's true that it wouldn't be too hard to get to this meeting if you live in town... AND if you don't have mobility issues in slippery weather AND if you want to and can drive in a snowstorm AND if you don't have to worry about slipping, falling and breaking a hip and landing in a rehab facility. Clearly it's no big deal for able-bodied young people, if they don't mind driving in bad weather. But it's not so safe for older, unsteady legs and feet, inexperienced drivers or other people who have trouble in the weather. This was the right decision, and I thank those who made it. They were clearly able to get to the meeting, and to reschedule meant to add another meeting to their own schedules, but unlike you, they were thinking of people other than themselves.

Anonymous said...

NO School actities:
TODAY, TOMORROW, or MONDAY