Noah,
It has come to my attention that you send out e-mails in which you communicate various things that pertain to the Village. One kind of reported e-mail is your recapitulation of things like Commission meetings.
This is fine. In fact, it's a good idea. People should know what you think, since you represent us and affect the Village.
The problem is that it appears you don't distribute these communications to everyone you could, or everyone whose e-mail address you have. You seem to select a subgroup of your neighbors, or constituents, and communicate your thoughts only to them.
Are you conspiring against some of your neighbors, and constituents? If you are, you should probably let them know, since at the same time, you ask for their support and accept their money. Also, if you are choosing to represent some of your neighbors, and not others, you should probably let people know that. I'm sure those (of us) you apparently choose not to represent would like to know not only that your leanings and actions are not for their benefit, and may be to their detriment, but would also like to know whom you do favor, and for whose benefit you do choose to act.
So if you decide to exclude part of the neighborhood, please openly communicate that. Your next newsletter column would be a great place, since we can all see it. You might also include there a list of the people you favor, and in whose interests you choose to act.
By the way, I said I thought it was a good and nice idea for you to send out your view of what transpires at meetings. You certainly wouldn't be the first or only Commissioner to provide that kind of insight. Bob and Roxy do the same thing. But they send their recapitulations to everyone on their lists. Sometimes, they get responses they might actually not want, but they seem to understand it as the price of being an elected official and providing what they owe to their neighbors and constituents, sympathetic or unsympathetic. It's probably just a matter of being graceful, fair, and having nothing to hide. And being "open" and "transparent." Perhaps not everyone's cup of tea.
Fred
Addendum: I realized after I sent this letter to Noah that his approach to his neighbors and his office is somewhat complicated. He has let us know that there are certain days, hours, or minutes when he switches hats, and declares himself not an elected official. It's not clear he has a system for these switches, or that he can predict and communicate when he is an elected official and when he isn't. Personally, I don't think he can alter himself this way, and one of our Village attorneys told him the same thing, but this is what he claims to do. So it may be that he thinks his orations at the Commission dais are under the Commissioner/Mayor hat, but his apparently private e-mails about Village business are under the not-an-elected-official hat. Although if he wasn't an elected official, he wouldn't be sending out his insights at all. He'd be ignoring the Village completely, as he did before he became an elected official. But since he never responded to the letter, I have no way of knowing what system, if any, he uses to decide what he feels like doing, and who he feels like being, from one minute to the next; when he thinks he's an elected official and when he thinks he isn't. What I do know is that he has never calculated what part of his time is spent in what he considers his private, not-an-elected-official, persona, and he has not told Village staff to withhold that proportion of his stipend. So maybe he agrees with me and the Village attorney, that he's an elected official all the time. At least that's his memory of it on pay day. It's very confusing.
Addendum: I realized after I sent this letter to Noah that his approach to his neighbors and his office is somewhat complicated. He has let us know that there are certain days, hours, or minutes when he switches hats, and declares himself not an elected official. It's not clear he has a system for these switches, or that he can predict and communicate when he is an elected official and when he isn't. Personally, I don't think he can alter himself this way, and one of our Village attorneys told him the same thing, but this is what he claims to do. So it may be that he thinks his orations at the Commission dais are under the Commissioner/Mayor hat, but his apparently private e-mails about Village business are under the not-an-elected-official hat. Although if he wasn't an elected official, he wouldn't be sending out his insights at all. He'd be ignoring the Village completely, as he did before he became an elected official. But since he never responded to the letter, I have no way of knowing what system, if any, he uses to decide what he feels like doing, and who he feels like being, from one minute to the next; when he thinks he's an elected official and when he thinks he isn't. What I do know is that he has never calculated what part of his time is spent in what he considers his private, not-an-elected-official, persona, and he has not told Village staff to withhold that proportion of his stipend. So maybe he agrees with me and the Village attorney, that he's an elected official all the time. At least that's his memory of it on pay day. It's very confusing.
No comments:
Post a Comment