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Welcome to the NEW Atkinson Reporter! Under new management, with new resolve.

The purpose of this Blog is to pick up where the Atkinson Reporter has left off. "The King is dead, Long live the King!" This Blog is a forum for the discussion of predominantly Atkinson; Officials, People, Ideas, and Events. You may give opinion, fact, or evaluation, but ad hominem personal attacks will not be tolerated, or published. The conversation begun on the Atkinson Reporter MUST be continued!

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Monday, April 13, 2009

What is not going on with the Town Website?

Has anyone noticed that there have been no minutes of selectmen's meetings posted since October 20, 2008?

Or that we are missing a WHOLE YEAR of budget committee minutes?

Or how about the general lack of information available on the town website?

There are many town's like Danville, whose town website has genuine information on it. In Atkinson, the Atkinson Taxpayers Website has more information then the town website.

And before this is conveniently blamed on the webmaster, it is not his fault! nobody is sending him minutes to post!

Ask your selectmen, and budget committee why?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Taking the minutes is normally the Town Administrators job. You may have noticed the town has had a problem there.

Don't like, volunteer to do it until a Town Administrator is hired.

Again, more bitching, but offering no solutions. Getting real old.

Anonymous said...

Moderator - Could you please post this as an article or announcement? Thanks.

The DES will be holding a Public Hearing on HAWC's Large Groundwater Withdrawal Request on
Tuesday, April 28, 2009, at 7PM, Atkinson Community Center.

Current plans are to record the Hearing for later rebroadcast on ACTV Ch. 20, but not to broadcast live due to the expense of doing so from the Community Center.

Anonymous said...

A friend from Plaistow says they have the same problem with up to date minutes . they also say they have a definite problem with timely up dates of what is coming up on the agendas of the boards. That isn't fair to the public regarding their rights to be informed in a timely manner to give any input on any thing before any board or committee. What are the RSA laws regarding the time frame of minutes and information of up coming agendas and meetings for public information?

Anonymous said...

This is what is talked about in area Selectmen's meetings.

"How to keep from doing the Selectman's job, and how not to let the public know we aren't doing our job".

Get real people, Selectmen, planning board, ZBA, and all other committee's are nothing more than EMPTY SUITS working to keep taxpayers from using the legal process for moving our community forward.

Taxpayers need to band together, pool resources and use the courts to MOVE these people out of our towns.

These people are the ones that need to MOVE if they don't like what WE want from our government.

Anonymous said...

Let's pass a warrant article that makes it legal for taxpayer lawsuits against Town Officials to be paid with taxpayer money. That would level the playing field.

Why should Selectmen allow Town Official legal fees be paid with taxpayer dollars, for lawsuits the Town is not responsible for? Hmmmmmmmmmm? That would stop official misdoing real fast!

Make Sapia, Polito, Consentino, selectmen, ZBA, Planning Board etc. pay their own personal legal fees privately, and don't give us the BS no one would run for office. Only the corrupt need that perk.

Anonymous said...

Wow, you're wicked intelligent!
I hope you run for office! This town would be great if we had your VISION. You are wicked awesome. Tell us some more of your wicked awesome ideas!!!

Curt Springer said...

Thanks for the kind remark about the Danville town web site. I chair the committee of volunteers who post to the site. As you noted we are entirely dependent on people sending us stuff on a timely basis. We don't have time to chase people for stuff they should be sending us. There are a couple of committees who are constantly behind, including our budget committee and our library trustees.

Regarding the RSAs and posting on town web sites: There is no legal requirement that anything be posted on a web site. Meetings must be posted 24 hours in advance, either in two public places or in a newspaper ad. Now you can use the town web site as one of the public places, but you don't have to. There is no requirement to post an agenda, whether in an ad, a printed notice, or on the web site. You are only required to state which committee, date, time, and place of the meeting. Minutes must be available for public inspection within 5 business days after the meeting. There is no requirement that they be posted on a web site. Minutes are not required to have much information beyond what was discussed and what votes were taken.

Just my opinion, if you have a committee with no paid staff and one member just taking notes on a voluntary basis you shouldn't expect much beyond the legal minimums, but if you have a paid clerk there ought to be agendas and detailed minutes and stuff should be sent to the web committee on a timely basis.

One thing that leads to a time lag in posting in my town, and perhaps yours, is that some committees want to review and approve the minutes, perhaps with changes, before they are sent to the web site. If you have a committee that meets twice a month, the minutes of the first meeting won't be posted until nearly the end of the month. There is actually no legal requirement that minutes be approved by committees.

Anonymous said...

Minutes ARE taken, they are just not posted on the website. And it doesn't take any time, just attaching them to an email to Don Roberts.

Anonymous said...

DON Roberts?! The nutjobs are right! It IS the Atkinson Mafia!!!!

Anonymous said...

It is not Don Roberts fault! The selectmen and the budget committee chair, Blackadar, are not sending him the minutes to post. WHY?

Anonymous said...

Answer: Selectmen, Polito, Consentino, Sapia etc. want to run the town by themselves. They don't want any towns people sticking their nose into their business. They don't want you to have minutes, so stop asking questions.