Tamworth selectmen say no to increased public comment

By Nate Giarnese

Under pressure to lighten the tone of their public meetings, Tamworth selectmen have refused to make a policy change that could have increased public comment.Resident Donna Veilleux said at a recent Thursday meeting that selectmen, by holding to one pre-business block for public comment, have discouraged participation by many citizens.A few months ago the board adopted new meeting protocol that firmly established a public input time to be held each week just before regular business.Selectmen say the policy gives everyone a fair chance to comment, and anybody who can't make the time slot, or needs a longer audience with the board, can get on the following week's agenda for as long as they need.But on Thursday, Sept. 1, Veilleux asked the board to reconsider her earlier requests to split the 15-minute, pre-business time block in two 7 1/2 minutes before regular business, and 7 1/2 minutes after.Veilleux said a second, later period would benefit voters twofold: It would let people comment late who couldn't make it at 4 p.m; and others could comment that night on board discussions that took place during the meeting."It is a problem for a lot of folks," she said.Another resident, Jim Bowditch, agreed. "I could have had additional comments," he said. But selectmen politely refused persistent requests by Veilleux and Bowditch, saying a change from one early-meeting session was unnecessary and would take too much time. "I'm gong to tell you right now, we're not going to do it," selectmen's chair Mariette Ross told Veilleux, even after Veilleux pressed selectmen to just "try it out.""We don't have time to do it," Ross said.Ross said any citizen who wants to discuss a matter in depth can ask to be on the agenda for a following meeting. That allows the board to come up to speed on the issue and not get caught cold, she said."When they come in with questions off top of their head, we don't have answers," Ross said.Officials reminded Veilleux that the board is not obligated to offer any public comment. Selectmen's meetings are held to conduct town business in public, and comment periods are not intended for extended public debate."These meetings are for this community to come in and listen to what selectmen are talking about," explained selectmen's secretary Anne Abear.Public comment is just that, comment, Ross said. It is not an open forum for time-consuming discussion."We don't do any discussion, only take comments," she said."It isn't that we don't want your input, I can't say it's that, we have lot to cover," Ross said.She said selectmen at past meetings had opened public comment after 7 p.m., and nobody showed up.Veilleux contended that a second block would encourage more public input by letting citizens speak on an issue almost immediately after it was discussed by selectmen."There is not a meeting I've been to where I wouldn't have loved the opportunity to comment on something that happened at that meeting," she said.Bowditch agreed, and another man in the audience that night said the change could help set a more positive tone for selectmen's meetings, which have occasionally turned chilly.At the end of a protracted back and forth with Ross, Veilleux asked selectmen to vote at their next Thursday meeting on whether to try out the policy change."I don't know, Donna," Ross replied.At one point in the conversation, Ross said, "Your (idea would end up) costing the town money because these girls are working overtime, and they get good money."Not to be derailed, Veilleux replied, "I'll pay the seven and a half minutes (in overtime for town staff)."Veilleux was on the board's agenda on Thursday, Sept. 1, the night she discussed public input with selectmen.In nearby Madison, selectmen in May adopted a meeting protocol that limits public comment to two brief periods, before and after regular business. Madison town staff said soon after the policy was adopted in Madison, Tamworth had asked for a fax copy. Tamworth weeks later posted its own current policy limiting public comment to one period.