Salem annual meeting: Behold the Valentine agenda

linda-valentine-hedshot

Linda Valentine

Those attending the Salem annual town meeting tonight will get a good look at the agenda of incoming town Chairman Linda Valentine.

Notice I didn’t say a glimpse or a hint or a suggestion of her agenda. After circulating the text of 48 directives she plans to make at the meeting (we got ours in an email today) — ranging from correcting the town government’s communication gap to keeping the parking lot lit — it’s hard to imagine there would be much left out. To take effect, the directives will have to be approved by a majority of the present electors.

Planning on attending? You might want to bring some provisions.

BTW, we’ll be there.

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3 Comments

  1. makingsalembetter says:

    we are all so glad that the woti was on hand to report..
    it is refresing to have quick and open coverage.

    we thank you for having us in your schedule!

  2. chris gustafson says:

    1. The microphones need to be fixed and in use at public meetings, not sitting in the corner in plain sight. We the taxpayers paid for the system, lets use it!
    That way, people would not have to raise their voices to be heard.
    People need to learn you can’t get the right answer until you ask the right person the right question. The Town board has the power to direct their attorney to tell the electorate the truth about what is legally required of wells located both outside and within a public water system’s service area should the town eventually get one for human consumption.

    2. Diann Tesar is right. They had workshops with experts who have calendars full of other important matters for entities other than ours. They came and made recommendations about the municipal complex and the stormwater utility district in which the electorate could have become more involved and educated, so as not to feel blind-sided and later confrontational. The electorate needs to make time in their busy calenders to attend. It is hard to come to a workshop at 5 PM when your stuck in traffic or can’t leave work out of fear you’ll lose your job. This is why better communications is needed. Agenda items that are technical in nature need to state as an example,
    “for informational purposes, wet-weather flow expenditures are needed for dealing with stormwater getting in the sewer making it harder or more expensive to treat the waste”.

    Although, the electorate pay the town’s consultant fees with tax dollars, the electorate need to ask better questions. It is presumptuious to believe elected officials who are not licensed attorneys, engineers, and so forth to know all the answers.

    Mike Slover did a great job explaining this community’s fire safety needs and deserves a big THANK YOU! for being so articulate last night. Had the board freed this town employee to speak sooner, things might have gone smoother and in less time than it had.

    I too am sorry for allowing myself to be provoked into acting unruly. It was saddening to see a beloved out going chairwoman become so justifiably upset
    and an oustanding citizen on the defense. I felt compelled to speak up, and frustrated by not having the town attorney explain in greater detail what happens when a municipal well becomes a community system.

    My bad, I will try to be less compulsive with my fallible human ways.

    Respectfully,
    Chris Gustafson

  3. Concerned Taxpayer says:

    Does anyone else think that her entire agenda is kind of ridiculous at the moment. I do realize that there are issues that need to be addressed, but I recently heard of some more pressing ones than updating a website that was recently updated & taking care of a parking lot lighting issue. What kind of road is this town headed for when you attend a meeting to get answers & you are told by the town chair to “send her an email”. I am sorry but last time I checked emails were deletable. Is there any guarantee that she will answer?

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