Commission Meeting Minutes

As you may know, there's a commotion about Commission meeting minutes.  And as in all Village matters, there are two sides.  We might as well call them factions, since they're essentially predictable, and not issue-dependent.  I'd define them further, but I suspect it isn't necessary.  The commotion is this: some Commissioners want minutes to be very complete and highly detailed, and other Commissioners feel minutes giving the gist of matters are good enough.  There was the predictable discussion, followed by the predictable vote, with the predictable results, and the decision was to have minutes which are a superficial summary of the proceedings.  There is, of course, also an audio and video recording of each meeting, and this serves as backup, for anyone who wants more detail, or a real sense of the discussions.  This has not sat well with those whose preference did not prevail, and the matter essentially gets challenged at each meeting.  It's all very unsatisfying, very disruptive, and the thrust is to blame and divide.  So here's what I'm thinking.

Some of us had the idea that public sculpture in BP would be a good idea.  We thought it was a great idea.  We thought it would enhance the whole Village and be a credit to all of us.  So the few of us pooled money, which we donated personally, and we acquired a sculpture which we gave to the Village.  There was plenty of discussion, and ultimately no one said they thought public sculpture was a bad idea, or that it wouldn't enhance the Village.  Even the relative nay-sayers thought public art was a good idea and a credit to all of us.  But only some of us felt so personally strongly about it, and had such a feeling of commitment and responsibility to the idea, that we actually used our own money to buy the art.  Even some who said they thought it was a good idea didn't want to donate money.

As far as I have been able to learn, three residents of BP think verbatim meeting minutes are an important and very good idea.  Two are Commissioners, and the other made his views public in a column he writes for a local tabloid.  I asked each of the five Commissioners if anyone has ever expressed any frustration with the summary minutes.  Three Commissioners responded to me.  Two said no one has complained, and the other said one person made one complaint once last year about a specific issue.  So if we count that person, it's four who have ever complained.  So I'm thinking the few people who feel strongly about this should handle the matter as those of us who felt strongly, committedly, and responsibly about the sculpture did.  They should pool their money, and make the Village a present of verbatim, transcribed minutes.  And if a few more people feel strongly, or many more do, then there are more donors to the project.

If those who feel this is important are moved to put their money where their mouths are, they might want to know what commitment they should be prepared to make.  My most current information is that it will cost about $1900 per Commission meeting to produce transcribed minutes.  But since there are at least three or four people who feel this is important, each one only has to commit to about $500-$600 per meeting.  I would say per month, but sometimes there is more than one meeting per month.  So some months it will be $1000-$1200.

And if the sculpture project is any indication, I can tell the minutes donors that the Village will no doubt happily accept the gift, and many other residents will express gratitude for it.