Transparency?

Earlier today I was reviewing the School Board packet and was surprised to learn that Dan Wright had been appointed to the Joint Advisory committee. Though this was the rumor, I would have preferred to be informed officially as a councilor, rather than reading it in the School Superintendent's notes. 

I continue to hope for transparency. 

184 Days

We vote in 184 days.

I know that seems like a long way off, and it is, but the School Board has some significant work to do in that time. With all the talk about options and credibility and transparency and consultants, I'm surprised that there has been so little discussion about the final phase of the fire and life safety plan for the Jr. Sr. High School.

184 days.

It's been my understanding that the School Board doesn't want to continue to work with Harriman. I won't pretend to know how long it takes to put together the RFP. Or conduct interviews for architects. Or have them come up with a plan that will suit our needs. But warrant articles are usually due in mid January and I'm concerned that this School Board hasn't even started the process.

Practice what you preach.

 Last night, after the School Board met with legal counsel in a "non meeting" (a non meeting is defined by RSA 91A:2), the School Board chairperson read a statement describing how the joint committee/advisory board will be formed, which I have copied below with my thoughts in bold. 

"The board is, through consensus, comfortable with a joint advisory committee of eight."

First question--why did this discussion need to happen with counsel? 

"Two of whom will be appointed by the school board, two by the Town Council and the remainder would be selected by a process by sending out a general notice to all members of the community interested in serving on this committee."

Please define "general notice." The superintendent, when discussing communication during another point in the evening wasn't even aware that the district had a regular electronic newsletter. I was surprised that not one board member mentioned this when he looked confused.  How will the community be notified?
There needs to be a significant awareness campaign on this issue.

"We are going to develop a process that will solicit interest from members of the community who wish to serve. We will develop more details later. The deadline for submission is September 15, 2014."

I'm having a hard time with this timeline. "They" are going to develop a process. When? How? Who? The deadline for submission is in 10 days, but the process hasn't been developed yet. The next School Board meeting is after the submission deadline, so will this be yet another item decided by one or two people, out of the public view? 

"After the deadline application the board will meet to look at letters of interest, provide comment to the four members of the committee, and then those members will determine which four of the community would serve on the committee."

I sincerely hope that this process happens in public. There is no need to do this behind closed doors, though that does seem to be the preferred method of conducting business by this board. 

"Subject to the final ratification from the Board, which is consistent with our policy."

During the Town Council meeting on Wednesday, Chairman Levy stated "I'm hoping that tomorrow the School Board will make a determination to create a real joint committee." I'm curious to see if this meets his definition of "real joint committee." It's clear that there is still confusion about the composition of this committee and who's "in charge" and Mr. Levy seemed frustrated by the School Board's decision to adhere to its own policies. 

I understand the need for non public sessions and non meetings - non-meetings are typical when a board meets with counsel. But when they started the regular meeting and the chair gave her report, it seemed to me that the School Board changed action that had been discussed and voted on in a previous public meeting. 

They did so in a non public consultation with counsel and then presented it to the community without any discussion or real explanation as to how they arrived at the decision they did. The chair simply read the above statement from her iPad and then moved on to the next item.

Overall, I'm concerned about the lack of transparency with this board and this process. Transparency has been their mantra, but they have yet to practice it.

A separate email will be sent directly to the School Board and the Superintendent to try to get some of these questions answered. I'll keep you posted. 

Summer's over.

If you haven't watched last night's joint School Board/Town Council meeting, I encourage you to do so. Though I have been critical of the process, I applaud the efforts of both the School Board and Town Council Chairs thus far. I was impressed with Mr. Bell's responses to many of the questions and think he will be an asset to our community. Overall, the biggest takeaway from last night should be that the entire School Board and Town Council met together and in the end, the proposal to hire the consultants was approved unanimously. This is a very important first step.

With that said, I have a few thoughts about the meeting I would like to share:

• More effective communication is clearly needed. It's apparent that there is some communication among the School Board, but mentions of emails discussing agenda items that were unanswered by the Chair and the case of all School Board members not being aware that they would be voting on the proposal last night are examples that there is a breakdown in communication somewhere.
• It was clear that Mr. Evangelista was unaware that action would be taken and his frustration was understandable. For whatever reason, both the School Board and Town Council Chairs have not been as forthcoming as they could be regarding this proposal and getting information from them has been difficult. The Town Council is not perfect, but at least when we head into meetings we typically have a clear sense of what we will be voting on during that particular meeting. This allows for adequate preparation. I don't agree with what Matt did last night, but I do understand his frustration. For some reason, getting clear information on this issue has been challenging at best. For example, there was no mention to the Town Council that we would be voting on this proposal either, until I questioned the Chair at the end of our regular Town Council meeting on Wednesday. I am hopeful that this issue will be rectified moving forward. 
• People need to stop talking about the "three failed school votes." There were two school votes, one in 2006 and one in 2014. The other vote was for land.
• I'm glad the 2 boards were able to meet and I hope that can be a somewhat regular occurrence, but I do think we need to adjust the format. It's cumbersome with such a large group and I think some points were lost because of it.
• The School Board's leadership is struggling. Ms. Durocher-Wentworth lost control of the meeting, allowing comments from the audience and from the Town Council Chair, losing track of votes and allowing her frustration to distract her. Asserting one's authority without being perceived unfavorably is not an easy task but the Chair is going to need to find that balance moving forward. Another meeting like last night is unacceptable.
• The consultants will need to look at the totality of documentation in order to move forward. This should include the most recent new school proposal and add/reno drawings that were done. One of the complaints is that those buildings were over-designed for the needs of our district and I think it would be valuable for the consultants to use those as a starting point. There is nothing to lose by reviewing past efforts that we invested so much time and money in. It was not my impression from reading the proposal that we would be asking the consultants to evaluate any one plan, but to help our community decide on a course of action that will best fit both our educational and economic needs.
• "It's ok to disagree without being disagreeable." 

The School Board has a huge task in front of it and it is as clear as ever that they need to figure out how to work together or this process will fail. 

A little push.

This past Spring, community members came to the Town Council asking for the Council and the School Board to work together to find a solution for our school facilities. Now it's August and so far this hasn't happened. 

To be clear, it is my understanding that the Council chair and the School Board chair have had some meetings. But there has been no involvement from the Council at-large, no discussions with the Council, no public input from other council members and no updates from the chair during Council meetings. So to characterize any plans as a collaboration between the Council and the SB is simply incorrect. I respect Mr. Levy's opinion, but he is just one of seven and has neither asked for nor received any guidance from the Council as a whole.

 

I apologize and take my share of responsibility for this. When I initially heard that the Council chair and the School Board chair were meeting several weeks ago, I did ask for an update in one of our meetings but was provided with little information. And there has been nothing since. Being new to the Council, I chose not to push too much at the time.

Clearly it's time to push.

Rainy day update.

I know it's been quiet here lately. The transition from the end of the school year to the beginning of summer has proven to be an exceptionally busy time. It's a flurry of end-of-year activities, followed by the race to make sure plans are all set for the summer and then the almost manic need to make sure each ray of sunlight goes un-wasted. For some reason it always takes me by surprise.

But now that we're mid-way through July, I feel like I can breathe and get caught up on a few things. And having a rainy day to force me inside is helping.

So, I'm going to take this opportunity to give you a little update on things happening in town. This isn't an exhaustive list, just the items that have caught my attention recently.

1. Development in Newmarket continues. By now, everyone is aware that the project by the golf course is well underway. But did you know that they've also broken ground on the Chinburg development behind the library, which as far as I know is still planned to be a nano-brewery and space for a restaurant (rumored to possibly be the new home of Panzanella's).  The Planning Board also just approved the Riverdale garage project, which is slated to become a high end market and Aroma Joe's drive-thru. The Planning Board has also been reviewing an application for a 10-home subdivision off of Bald Hill Rd. Not surprisingly, this is also a Chinburg project. 

2. There was a meeting last week to present the plans for pedestrian crossings in downtown. Maybe you remember the plans for the skybridge near the Newmarket Mills entrance? Well, that was scrapped quite a while ago, but pedestrian safety remains a concern. Studies have been done, sight lines measured and now there are plans for increased signage, improved walkways and even an additional crosswalk close to Riverworks. The full engineering report is available on the town website. 

3. The Dam. Remember last summer when the draw down of the river was done and people in the community were outraged? Well, the report is ready to view on the town website and I am adding a link here. In addition, the Town Council will be discussing the formation of another Dam Committee, with a resolution in the first reading tonight and I'm anticipating a vote on it at our August 6th meeting. If the dam is something you're interested in, now is the time to pay attention and get involved.

4. New faces. There are some new faces in the school district this summer and articles in the Exeter Newsletter and Foster's have highlighted some of these. There is a new Superintendent, new NES Principal and a soon-to-be-determined new school board member.

Keep enjoying the summer and I'll update as the weather permits!

Get in line.

"...This is not just a Newmarket problem. There are other school districts having these same debates. Which is why, in fighting to restore school building aid, I did not ask for Newmarket to be at the front of the line, just to have an equal opportunity to compete for funds."--This is a quote from Adam Schroadter's letter in today's Exeter Newsletter. 

But why not ask for Newmarket to be at the front of the line? Isn't that the job of an elected official representing our town?