Archive for August 14, 2008
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by John Weckerle
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Two Agenda Monty
by John Weckerle
The Town of Edgewood has scheduled a special Town Council meeting for Tuesday, August 19, 2008 (see agenda). A regular meeting is scheduled for the following day, August 20 (see agenda). At the special meeting, the Council will proceed immediately into closed session, and then return to discuss a number of items of potentially broad public interest. These include such topics as the location and budget for the municipal library, personnel issues, acquisition of a bridge, and “miscellaneous.”
“Miscellaneous?” Use of such a word on an agenda – which is intended to inform the public of the topics to be discussed – appears inappropriate, especially in the context of the “sunshine laws” that govern public disclosures in New Mexico.
Of special interest are the resolutions listed in the agenda – one for “Restriction of Gross Receipts Tax Derived from New Construction,” and one for “Budget Resolution.” Seeing such items on the agenda for a special meeting rather than the regular meeting raises questions regarding the reasons for such scheduling. One would expect that items of such obvious interest to the community would be discussed during a regular meeting, allowing for full disclosure and discussion before the widest segment of the public possible. Given the potential significance of the decisions to be made, it would seem appropriate to invite public comment before making decisions on these issues.
The proposed text of the resolution is not attached to the agenda, nor is it available on the Town’s web site. Neither are any of the resolutions passed by the Town Council In fact, the word “resolution” is not used on the site at all. Neither is the proposed agenda posted on the Town web site. This seems fundamentally at odds with the open government platform on which candidates ran – successfully – in the March election. What arises is the impression of a shadowy method of policy making: holding special meetings to enact resolutions at off-cycle Council meetings without publishing the proposed – or final – resolutions on which discussions are to be held. Where resolutions are to be discussed and acted upon, we strongly urge the Town to publish the draft in advance, and all final resolutions, on the Town web site.