To the editor:
What is the point of having a public hearing if the public doesn’t know about it?
Late last night, Thursday, May 19, the Town Council’s Legislation and Administration Committee posted an agenda on the town website for its regular meeting on Monday, May 23, at 7 p.m. at Town Hall. On the agenda as item 3 is “RESOLUTION TC23-166: To consider and act upon a resolution which would accept for initial review the First Draft of the Charter Revision. (Public Hearing)”
As I write this, it is noon on Friday, May 20, and there is no notice of this public hearing on the home page of the town website under “What’s Happening Around Trumbull,” “Events,” or “Upcoming Meetings.” It’s also not posted on the Town Calendar, which is also on the website. And the public hearing is three days from today!
What makes this even more frustrating is that the document containing the proposed revisions to the charter is not posted on the home page of the town website. To find this important document, you must click on “Town Hall” and then “Agendas and Minutes,” choose “Town Council,” then “Town Council Agendas,” then “2011,” select “05-02-2011 TC Meeting Packet,” and there you will find the document containing the sweeping proposed revisions to our town charter. Needless to say, unless you know exactly how to locate the document, chances are pretty slim indeed that you will be able to find it.
I urge all Trumbull residents to read the proposed revisions, as well as the Minority Report written by the two Democratic members of the commission. That report is not posted anywhere on the town website, but was posted on Patch on April 28 at . The official draft of the revisions shockingly contains no explanation or commentary about the reasons for the proposed changes, but thankfully the Minority Report clarifies some of the major issues and proposes alternative solutions that ought to be considered.
Let’s wake up and insist on the transparency that was promised to us by this administration!
