On Monday night, September 26, 2011 at 7:30 PM the Falmouth Board of Selectmen is scheduled to vote on a policy regarding the online posting of committee agendas and meeting minute notes. FHMIA Board member Paula Lichter has been working with the BOS since March, 2009 on developing and implementing the online posting policy and requests the attendance of all members interested in greater transparency in Town Government.
While this is a Town-wide issue and not necessarily specific to the Heights, both the Town’s online posting policy itself, and the vote to implement it are important to the FHMIA. Both will directly affect the quality and the timeliness of information that the FHMIA Communication Sub-Committee can relay to the membership.
In May, 2011 the Selectmen adopted a policy which would require committees to post their agendas and minutes online. Last week, on Sept. 19, some members of the new Board of Selectmen tried to secure a vote to make online posting optional. Selectman Putnam was able to postpone that vote until Sept. 26 so that the agenda item could be properly advertised.
The FHMIA prefers that online posting of town committee agendas and meeting minute notes be mandatory and not simply optional.
For more information regarding the history of the policy, and Paula’s deep concern regarding next Monday’s BOS discussion and vote, please click on this link:
Online Posting Policy Lichter Letter
Also, see the Falmouth Enterprise article, Friday, September 23, 2011, page 14 entitled “Selectman Putnam Takes Issue With Process Of Posting Policy”