Barnstable County Bill

Lockerby redux ?

The last time we bombed Quadafi's house he set up travel arrangements for his agents  that ended up in the Lockerby disaster . 

Fortunately,  this time we have a Congressman Keating who has asked for beefed up Airport security and has been given visibility as the ranking member on a Homeland Security subcommittee. 

But here's  the question that was put to me by some people in my neighborhood.

Besides getting that job which was a response to the kid who stowed in the wheel well of the plane going from Charlotte to Boston what actions have been taken to improve security?

Only the County Commissioners speak for themselves not Ad Hoc Advisory Committees

What is an Advisory Committee? It is a group of people who are recruited to investigate, evaluate and comment on a topic of interest to the organization that created them. Enter the Vegetative Management Risk assessment committee. They were formed to look at the "whole" picture (read the Mission Statement) on chemical application, mechanical and manual extraction on all of Cape Cod. That is the 400 square miles not just the 200 foot by 100+ miles of the NSTAR right of way. Of course, the way it was followed in the press and by the advocates for no spraying it seemed that was the only issue.

They submitted a report to the County Commissioners. When they said they were in support of NSTAR they did not speak for us they were by that action speaking to us. We did not "endorse" the report. We agreed that it posed more questions than it answered. We expressed appreciation to the members of that committee. We then looked around the room for someone to lead us into a next step.

Personally, I thought that if the Cape Cod Commission can establish a criteria for how much and what kind of commercial products can be placed on the shelves at BJ's or Home Depot as part of the permit approval, why not whip up a regulation on what can be put into the ground by any significant entity. Here's where I find out that while that regulatory authority maybe exercised over commercial, industrial and residential properties the Utilities (Railroads, electric, Gas and others) are under the jurisdiction of the State. The state in turn follows the direction from the Federal government. So when I say could we sue them to have them stop I'm told in lawyer language that we would not prevail.

But the CCC can give us an inventory on all the chemical products that are available, it can suggest with the help of the CC Co-Operative Extension best practices and methods of identifying intrusive vegetation and the AmeriCorps (hopefully it will be reauthorized by the Feds) whose original mission was to develop management plans for environmental protection and methods of recruiting volunteers to implement them all of whom are under County Control should be able to suggest a next step.

So two weeks or so from now the commissioners will find out what the CCC thinks it can do and what resources are needed to do it. An outcome for which I'm looking is once we know how big the problem is we could figure out a method of impact reduction. Impact can be defined in many ways and its measurement has to be carefully and consistently done. I use as an example that a trace of chlorine can purify a water source but a high concentration can kill all life in the water. This plan is also to supply some guidance as to the need or not to continue with an advisory committee.

At this count 13 towns Boards of Selectmen have signed letters requesting NSTAR stop spraying but have not spoken to steps they are taking to assess the use of similar chemicals within the towns. I have sent a note to Tom May suggesting that if he were to allocate the budget for this activity to the County we could act as Fiscal agents and use AmeriCorps to coordinate and supervise a manual extraction program within the town boundaries. Representatives Cleon Turner and Sarah Peake have filed legislation that would force NSTAR to negotiate with the town for who would do the work (Docket #03587) you can read the details on the State web page.

Finally, what would you pay? It comes down to that for all of this and who decides how much that will be. The county can tell you about the problem, help with the management plan to address it, but does not have the resources or the authority to implement because that resides within the towns and at the state.

Business school taught me the first answer to any problem is to do nothing. I don't think that is an answer to this one.

Talk to Me!

The people who show up are the ones that count

Borders closes; Circuit City never showed up; Is this an opportunity or what to continue the conversion of  and entry retail strip into an inviting commercial center?

We have a lot of piety about needing to find alternatives to high cost energy costs on the Cape and when some are proposed only "toy size"  small output wind turbines that won't affect your viewscape are slipped in;  Does that mean that closing tax loopholes to get more landlords to pay into the tax base is a better choice for raising money?

The question about chemicals for Vegetation Management versus manual selective extraction of invasive plants raises hackles (talk about an illegal immigrant problem most of the plants come from someplace else);  Could a commitment to manual extraction provide more jobs for local contractors and landscapers?

Periodically the fact that there is a regional government
is rediscovered

Periodically the fact that there is a regional government is rediscovered;  We can tell you what we do and I can tell you that when I ask the towns what we should cut they say keep what they have.  I can also tell you that based on what we are allowed to collect from property owners it amounts to about $.06/head/day (221,000 Total Pop)  the rest ($20 million) comes from fees the state and the feds and wouldn't get here if we weren't fighting for it. And more important would not be delivered to you in the form of housing, transportation, energy efficiency audits, wastewater management planning and economic development support to mention a few.  Go to our web page to see more.

Also join us for the Budget discussions which will start at the Assembly of Delegates in March.  The people who show up are the ones that count.

What was I thinking?

Of course I should have said you are or you're.  I was originally thinking "Y'er .

 It justs demonstrates once again that attempts to sound less pretentious or write in an unfamilar context will get you in trouble. I deserved the criticism I got.

On the other hand I was pleased that regardless or what I said some one was paying attention.

Which gets me to my real point. 

What does it take to get the public (which includes you) to show up when we schedule open meetings to get a broad range of opinions? From a dialogue we might get a consensus.

I ask questions to find out what people think because I am supposed to represent the collective interest of what serves us best. 

On the Blog world people say different things from what I hear in my travels. Some of you know I show up at a  lot of places.

 So I wonder how do I get all of you in the same room at the same time to have that conversation?

You say your not satisfied, you want more for your money...well what are you "gonna" do?

Problems are opportunities in work clothes

Transportation, housing, employment, nest egg erosion, energy costs, health care costs, carbon footprint, education formula, stimulus and pseudo-stimulus package , transparency, regionalization,  Cape Codders have a lot on their minds.

"I believe that optimism is important because in past times my experience has been that things get better."

There is no lack of comment .  

At 11.5% unemployment something needs to be done.

What I am hearing is the return of the Great Society and not the direction of funds to the small business where jobs are usually created in good times and bad.

I believe that optimism is important because in past times my experience has been that things get better. 

But with fewer resources there is a need to rationally allocate public money to serve the greatest need. 

I also remember that in past time all the piety about using the down times to plan and prepare disappears once things pick up.

So if problems are opportunities in work clothes what are you doing to cope and what do you say the rest of us should do?

I told a class of Middle School kids that the economy depended more on their optimism to spend on something they wanted because they believed they could pay for it then any benefit from a stimulus package.

What do you think?

As Sgt Friday said: "Just the facts, Maam."

I have a serious problem with the recent finding of the District Attorney with regard to interpretation of the open meeting law mentioned in today’s CC Times.  I spend a fair amount of time showing up to all kinds of meetings to take the pulse of the community.  I think its part of my job.

The suggestion that I would be excluded from a meeting because the public would be shielded from the fact gathering process has a parallel in that the low quorum requirements at a town meeting could be interpreted that the several thousand citizens who choose not to show up are shielded from the process of the quorum since they are not there.   Are the town meeting attendees  in violation of the open meeting law.?

The point that all of the public are invited does not change that circumstance from any voluntary association who asks members of the public to attend.  If the meeting is open to all then it is open to any including the people who are elected to serve the public interest and they should not send representatives, they should show up themselves.

Another question is : who decides if an advocacy group meeting excludes those who might attend to find out more about the issue involved.  Who is more responsible to find out and make a judgment on behalf of the citizens than the person elected to represent them?

I don’t believe that I was elected to pass my responsibility for making judgments based on investigation to another person including a Chair.

This same District Attorney ruled that a meeting that my housing authority posted at a nursing home, because one of our members had broken her leg prevented public access to the meeting causing a change in venue back to our housing authority office.  The fact that the common room at the place was larger than our usual meeting room and it was a building open to the public during the time of the meeting and may have gained a larger audience through the circumstances of being held during visiting hours did not seem to matter.  A similar judgement about another committee that I heard about,  which was about meeting in bar rooms had my support since the possibility of being under the influence of more than the public was possibile.

The courts are supposed  to make judgments based on the facts presented in evidence during the course of the trial and juries are told not to be influenced by reading newspaper accounts or anything that occurs outside of the court room.  That might work for trials, but my experience says that unless you do everything you can to collect and observe for yourself your ability to take a defensible position is seriously impaired. So using a judicial standard does not serve the public interest and the right of all sides to be fairly heard.  I can just see the CC Times opining about elected boards making decisions based on who shows up at the posted meetings and the responsibility of public outreach.

If I was to follow the letter of the DA’s opinion with regard to Provincetown I would never attend any meeting of citizens who were advocates if the possibility existed that the other Commissioners might show up and hear what I heard. Many times in my experience and borne out by training in Science that you can come to different conclusions based on subjective observation. This suggests that an increased number of observations are important to filter out anything that interferes with finding the truth.    I take great exception to the idea that I am so well rounded that I will roll in any direction that I am pushed which is exactly what the DA’s opinion implies for all elected officials.  It is the equivalent of saying that hearing one opinion prevents you from considering another.

 I applaud Mary Jo Avellar for her position and her opinion that it was “foolish” and I plan to continue to “show up”!

Mr. DeMille I'm ready for my close up....

Recent  expressed interest by members of the Assembly of Delegates to use modern parlance to electronically record for distribution over available media outlets  the meetings of the County Commissioners remind me that in an era of the public emphasis on the right to know there is something left out: The public responsibility to show up.

As a long term member of  C3TV now Community TV with a long running (three years) program and a supporter or transparency in government actions I wonder if the wish to add overhead cost is an excuse to justify a lack of participation. I have not heard from the Assembly a request that we change the time of our meetings before the request that we tape them.

I have been a Commissioner for six years and in that time have not heard a public outcry that we are operating outside of the regulations of the open meeting law. Indeed, when a recent request for information by the CC Times under the FOI showed that our business is conducted in the open.

Let’s take a look at how the business of the county gets done.  Before the Commissioners can spend any money they must get the approval of the Assembly.  That has at least two parts.  The first is the annual budget where the public hearings are held at the Assembly to examine the recommendations and decide on appropriating the money.  The second has the requests submitted through out the year for supplemental appropriations to cover unanticipated expense.  By the way those  Assembly committee hearings are not recorded leaving  that to the Assembly general meeting,  which tends to have less detail as to the process by which recommendations were arrived.

At the end of the year the Assembly has an auditor come and examine all the transactions and provides a management letter and a statement of financial condition.

During the year based on a request that I made when I was a member of the Finance Committee of the Assembly a copy of the warrants listing all the payments made in the preceding month are delivered to them.  Based on a recent comment by a member I must have been the last one to look at them six years ago.

In response to the requests for participation at times that would be more convenient we could meet after the Assembly on a regular basis to see if there were any evidence of this being an incentive for citizen attendance.

I know that recording could be useful to give a picture of the deliberations  but I have noticed that the Selectmen meetings are  shown in Harwich  the next day and the Assembly meeting cable casts are usually two or even three weeks old and only are on the mid cape outlet, which suggests that they could do more to look at the missed opportunity to inform the people of the lower and upper cape.  That last issue does bear on the fact that if they cannot afford to cover all  the Cape with the actions they take in oversight on the Commissioners who cannot act to spend the County’s money without it then even if the Commissioners’ did record their deliberations how would those people know how it all turned out?

Curious Bill asks about connectivity

Only reporting half of the story
"Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the gallon" -Mark Twain

At the Assembly of Delegates  meeting on Wednesday this week, when asked by Mary Lou Petit the delegate from Eastham why the Cape Cod Times did not give attribution to Barnstable County in a story about the Childrens' Cove a department of the County, I responded.

"The Cape Cod Times tells people what they want them to know, not what they need to know."

Twenty-four hours later, there was a hand-delivered note from a reporter from the Cape Cod Times demanding a freedom of information compliance from my email files.  This from a reporter who had never been at any County Commissioners meeting and who has never  contacted  me for an interview.

If it looks like a skunk, walks like a skunk, smells like a skunk... 

I put it to my fellow bloggers should I connect the two events? Now I don't really believe that there was a second shooter in Dallas, but I can't help but puzzle over the fact that within 24 hours of making a criticism of the CC Times, they are demanding information from me. In the now almost nine years of county service, I have returned phone calls, given quotes and cooperated with the reporters, but now I put it to my fellow bloggers should I connect the two events?  Should I feel that the guys with the barrel of ink are flexing their muscles and showing how to put me in my place for saying something in public that expresses my opinion and is not in praise of the paper?

I know that they have always prefered to endorse anybody but me for public office but I have never felt that mattered since usually that helped me get elected. But the coincidence has got me wondering about what else lies beneath the information and news creation process at our local print media outlet.

Anybody have any similar experience to report?

We got everybody over the bridge..now what?

Evacuation signs are not a plan of action 

The appearance of the new blue signs sure give me a warm fuzzy.  My original feelings that the evacuation route would evolve out of the fact that everybody who was trying to leave would notice the direction that evrybody was taking .

It made clear to me that addressing an emergency with a sign is not a way to avoid responsibility for a plan that would actually solve the problem.  And that problem is that we have no comprehensive traffic plan for Cape Cod.

We have a lot of piety about acceptable mitigation payments, the progress of adding bike trails and sidewalks.  All of these and others are attacks on bits and pieces and in some cases are causing more problems.

"I took the one less traveled by,
And that made all the difference."

Ah, the wisdom of the poet Robert Frost resonates with me as a solution to traffic Congestion on Cape Cod.

Traffic Congestion on Cape Cod was identified as the most serious problem to respondents to a Cape Cod Commission 2005 survey. So far the response has been a classic Business School first approach,: Doing nothing or as little as possible to see if the problem will resolve itself less expensively then the cost  to make a change.  

It might be the only sustainable one, if we decide as a community that the irritation of traffic congestion is not significant enough to invest any resources.

In fairness a lot of traffic support planning resources is used in fixing aging infrastructure.  Since we have not exercised the political will that puts planning and implementation ahead of more glamorous and immediate outcomes, we have a reactive strategy that responds to emergencies and drains the money from comprehensive preventive maintenance and planning.

 Another possible solution might be to change how we go about conducting ourselves.  More discipline in choosing when to make a trip and how that trip is made. In my mind that quickly dissolves into a return to a "sixties" mentality.  Remember the back to nature living in a tent, carrying your water and emulation of a third world culture.

My recollection is that the people who went to the woods came back when they got cold, wet, and dirty and tired enough.  That doesn't mean that it wasn't well intentioned it just means that it became unrealistic.

So as idealism exited stage right pragmatism, personal self interest and the value of comfort reentered stage left. 

We are already here. We are used to getting what we want.  We are not used to paying for it. 

So the problem statement has the three parts:  Do we agree that there is enough of a problem of traffic congestion to do something about it; How much resources should be used and where should the resources be applied?

The five parts of the method I learned start with observation which we have done. The data needs analysis, assumptions need to be made and tested and a real plan has to be proposed.

Based on the predictability of volume and the appropriate application of technology, the careful placement of infrastructure and an intelligent integration of public and alternate means of transportation I think we can solve this problem.

We need to make a commitment to developing a plan that takes the problem seriously enough to engage the community to cooperate to resolving it.

I propose that we put together a task force of experts in transportation planning, members of the business community and political leaders to work on this.

The hope is that we leave the piece meal approach and truly look at all the parts.

If you agree that the time has come to put some serious effort behind the resolution of traffic congestion on Cape Cod this is opportunity knocking and I'm taking names.

Let me know if you're interested in doing more than just complianing .

How do you get on top of the Human Service Need Problem?

All Cemetery workers start at the top

I often think about my first elected office.  I ran in a town election and defeated a much better known candidate.  I became a Cemetery Commissioner and then its chair.  All Cemetery workers start at the top.  So I have always taken that as guidance when I approached my subsequent elected positions. 

Today in "electedville" as noted in local media, letters and phone calls I find that I'm being almost buried in opinions about what has been done and what should be done about Human Services on Cape Cod.

What is missing is not who pays but how do you make a case that the benefits justify the costs.

The Human Service community has been vocal in support of a continuation of life as it was with Len.  My fan mail  is running that the research and data collection informs the direction of the regional response to Human service Need and the role of Communication, collaboration and coordination. This is to advocate for a position that the effort can only be continued with the existence of a Human Service Department.

That department by the way had four employees and cost $360,000 a year.  That's before the grant money.  So a question comes up about the cost of overhead to support that visibility.  To me there is a question that all advocates should  ask. At least I do. How much of that money delivers services to the safety net need and how much is overhead.

I believe that is the real question. 

I believe that all levels of government have a responsibility to support safety net issues.  The question is how do you best guarantee that  the population in need gets the maximum share of whatever funds and resources are available from public and private sector sources.

A further question is if, as I do, you recognize the progress that has been made in the outcome momentum that has been developed by the contribution of the Human Service Advisory Committee in identifying needs and  advocating for application of resources how do you maintain that progress?

There is a term in design that form follows function. 

I think that rather than a policy of holding on to a past form that we need to have a conversation from and with all the sectors of the community about this issue.  The limitation in the present activity has been it has been within the  advocacy community.  It needs to engage the whole community.  Without a complete and holistic involvement of those who give and receive we will continue to have a division whenever the revenue stream slows.  Indeed, we made in my opinion, a significant error of not using some of our resources to develop a  long term strategy.  At the time it was easier to spread the money around and then move on to other things.

What we need is a business plan that spells out a viable long term sustainable response that has a level of  applied resources that can withstand the effect of economic changes.

So what to do? 

I think there is a solution because there needs to be one.  What I don't believe  is that we have involved enough of the whole community in addressing it.

The advocates are clear on identifying their collective sectors, the community is not as clear in identifying their interest or appetite about their collective responsibility.

Who is going to step up to do something about this? I'm from the government and I'm here to help you!