Involvement
secondcurve, you hit the nail on the head about involvement. What happens with many small town budgets, few if any people from the public show up to the work session meetings and then armchair quarterback it after it passes at town meeting (which many people in town don't even attend). I've found that going to the work sessions is beneficial as you can certainly sway the thought process. Even as a non-resident you can go speak your thoughts. I've found most boards do take public input, regardless of residency.
The typical small town budget board members typically fit one of the three with most having no accounting experience:
1. Long term townie who wants things to never change unless it's to their own or relatives benefit and then it's OK.
2. Person(s) with a specific agenda they are fighting for, tax rate be damned.
3. The ultimate contrarian who doesn't want to spend one extra $0.01
Then you are left to hope they balance each other out. In my town, the town manager "appoints" the planning board and budget board members and they are then approved by the selectmen. If you don't fit their 'ideals', you ain't gettin' on the board.
New England town goverments are pretty much mob rule via mini "true" democracies which ironically is what the constitution painstakingly was written to prevent.
|