How do you think our local government can work more efficiently? What is missing? What is right and what is wrong?
I have a few thoughts regarding this, please correct me if I'm wrong.
Many elected and appointed positions seem to have no requirements regarding qualifications. If I were to go apply for a job, most would require that I possess certain skills. The town is a business. Most businesses require that employees possess the needed skills for the job, perform to certain standards and continuing training. Why isn't our town doing this? It seems our town has the same type government and expectations of those serving that they may have had a hundred years ago. "We'll appoint Jeremiah to the finance committee because he knows how to add" or "We'll appoint Jebediah to selectboard because he can talk loudest". I know these examples are a bit outlandish, but in this day and age I feel we need a finance committee that its members are schooled in finance. We need a selectboard that has training in public relations, finance and municipal management.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Downtown Rumford 1906
Wikipedia.org
Submitted by C - Thank you
The voice of the people
Click the link below to visit the online community of the River Valley
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Downtown Rumford 1906
Welcome to the Rumford Free Press
The RFP is committed to open debate and responsible free speech. All comments will be posted unless they are derogatory, a personal attack against someone or hurtful to the community in general.
If you have something you would like us to post, feel free to submit it. Please mark "Please Post" on your email.
Of course, all posts need to use responsible language and make a positive contribution to our community.
Thank you, The Rumford Free Press
If you have something you would like us to post, feel free to submit it. Please mark "Please Post" on your email.
Of course, all posts need to use responsible language and make a positive contribution to our community.
Thank you, The Rumford Free Press
Grow Rumford!
Posts
River Valley Community Calendar
Today's Weather
Labels
- Community building (12)
- town services (5)
- Community (3)
- Med-Care (3)
- Community Development (2)
- Business (1)
- RVFP (1)
- selectmen (1)
Blog Archive
-
▼
2008
(94)
-
▼
June
(26)
- Our Fire Fighters - REAL Local Heroes.
- Meet the REAL Barack Obama
- TRR site posts inaccurate information - from someo...
- Who's passing this kind of information to TRR?
- The Rumford Free Press is pleased to announce our ...
- With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
- FALCONS SUMMER BASKETBALL CAMP
- Ethics – Middle School Style
- Town Government
- Strathglass Park
- Election Procedure/Law
- Why not Madigan?
- Rumford Free Press Reaches Milestone
- It's Cameron and Belanger
- More Information on the Rumford Fire Department.
- Who is write in candidate Richard O. White for Rum...
- Support the Rumford Fire Department
- A high stakes game of chicken
- Limits on Free Speech - - What the Supreme Court H...
- NewPage profits and closures
- Med-Care Issue
- Sometimes you have to do what’s right for the town.
- Extremely disturbing, abusive comments received by...
- A letter from our Fire Department
- Building Our Economy
- What's your favorite swimming spot?
-
▼
June
(26)
The Rumford Falls, 1905
Wikipedia.org
Rumford Falls, 2007
Submitted by C - Thank you
17 comments:
Well put!
What are the requirements for President? If you put requirements on a position, it excludes some people. Government is about inclusion not exclusion.
First of all the selectboard should not be using the editorial page to push their point of view. 2nd when a department head makes a presentation with facts this should not be dismissed because it contradicts their view point. I also agree that the good old boy appointments need to stop.
There are plenty of ways people can be included in serving their community so I don't see exclusion as a factor. The town needs to be run as a business in order for it to survive in this era. The poorly managed companies are going under. We've gone through 2 town managers in as many years. We nit pick about their qualifications, experience, who they know, where they live and then have a board of selectmen and finance committee with no formal training telling this guy how to make apples out of oranges. Where is the logic in that?
C - I appreciate the irony of your comments regarding the tm. Kevin, I see the only form of exclusion here being that we don't seem particularly interested in anyone's qualifications but are more interested in whether we know and like them...the only person exempt from that, of course, has been the tm.
please
Please what?
I agree with C. Look at what happened after the "new" board got elected last year. What is the process for making appointments?
There are some who serve on boards for self serving purposes. While some of these are known, it is not always possible to prove. Another factor on board appointments is "ownership". When people serve on a board for too long they develop an attitude of entitlement to the position. There are reasons why the appointments are for 3 years. It is important that others be given a chance to serve on a board instaed of having the same three to five people in charge for decades at a time. In our state givernment (<- Ha ha, I did not mean that typo, but with the way they increase handouts, perhaps it is appropriate to call them a giverment instead of a government)we have term limits. This provides others with the chance to participate and keeps the scoundrels from becoming entrenched. No government is going to appoint people whose beliefs are contrary to their beliefs. If Obama wins in November, you won't see Bush's cabinet being retained, and those are paid positions. Let's give someone else a chance to provide direction for our town.
We definitely lack diversity on our board. Three (I think) are retired and two are local business owners. I'm in NO way discrediting their performance, I think Adley has served quite respectably but I think owning a business in some instances (depending on the people) could be a conflict of interest. If Fred and Bob were on the board and each owned niche businesses would they vote in favor of something that would take away or lessen their sales advantage in our area?
If the majority of the board were on a fixed income will they votes more represent that group?
Aren't DiConzo and Boivin on a fixed income??
Kevin, there are requirements fo becoming President of the United States. Being as policallty active as you try to be, you should know this. Literacy is an important one. I wouldn't want anyone in ANY office if they were illiterate. Experience is helpful, too. Experience along the lines of the office the individual is seeking. Yes, some people are exluded from office by these restrictions, but they are not excluded from the governmental process. That is a personal choice.
Neither literacy nor experience are listed as requirements for the office of President. All that is required is that you be born an American citizen and you be over 40 years old.
In town government, we need to make boards and committees as available to as many people as possible. Using rules to exclude people from positions seems to be very elitist.
Elitist? To expect people that are making important town decisions to have the education and experience to make wise informed choices? How can you say that? It's elitist to not allow X to serve because he didn't want to learn to read? What about Y who did learn because he thought no one would just hand him a job that he wasn't qualified for?
We have had town officials who couldn't read. Reading and reasoning are not the same. A person can be lacking in "schoolin'" but still have good horse sense. Just because you can read doesn't mean that everybody else has to. Some of the greatest leaders of our country had learning disabilities.
I believe that one need not have a formal education to be a good leader. A master's degree in public policy does not give one good sense and integrity. I
I'm not saying a master's degree is in order for qualifications, but there should be some. At the very least a HS diploma. Learning disabilities are commonly overcome with hard work and determination. I in no way am implying someone with LD or handicaps shouldn't be eligible. Experience does go a long way too. For example, I consider myself more than well rounded education-wise though don't have degrees to back up all of my assets and yes, I lose out on jobs to those people who have the degrees even though my "range" may be wider. It's important that you have people who are willing to learn and take it upon themselves to be sure they are doing the best job possible in their elected positions. If I were a selectman I would certainly want to take advantage of any training offered to me. Why don't they want to do MMA training? JC-Do you think our town can effectively compete for new business and industry on "horse sense"? Can "horse sense" be counted on for realistic budget planning for both now and the future?
I believe a person can do amazing things if given the opportunity. Joe DeRouche did some good things without a masters in Municipal Administration. Robbie Welch held things together without a Masters degree. I agree that it would probably take more education to make definitive progress, but if a manager knows how to use his/her resources, he/she can do things beyond his/her education and experience.
Post a Comment