James Feleen
Claremont
To the editor,
In a recent [Oct 20] edition of Mayoral Notes entitled “ The Importance of Committee Work,” the mayor said, “Incorporating the work of committees (this also includes commissions and boards) into policy discussion at the council level accomplishes several things. First, committee recommendations are the result of in-depth study, improving the council’s ability to base decisions on facts rather than opinion or individual experience. Second, committees utilize the perspectives of numerous individuals, thus decreasing the possibility of unintended consequences in policy development. Finally, it is a mechanism in which the public can be directly engaged in shaping policy in our community.” (parenthetical in original).
This is a correct and prudent statement of good municipal management. Unfortunately, the practical reality of decision making by the Claremont City Council is different. From my perspective, the council regularly ignores the work of certain boards and committees, rejects their recommendations, makes minimal effort to communicate with them and thereby fails to conduct adequate fact finding. I feel this is the primary reason there are so many vacancies on the various boards. Why volunteer time and effort if the council is going to ignore that work and do what it wants anyway? The community deserves a better process and better results from its elected officials.
Sincerely,
James Feleen
Claremont
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