Coffee-shop talk

In an article in today's issue of The Eagle Tribune (click here to read the full article), Bill Pennington describes the need to provide town voters with the budget information they need to make good choices at the upcoming Town Meeting:

"My whole thing on this is, we've got to look at the options and get the information out to the citizens," Pennington said. "They have to understand the consequences of their actions. Until those options are laid out before them, this is coffee-shop talk."

I admire Bill's conviction and dedication to this effort, and share his sense of urgency to get information flowing to - and amongst - the concerned citizens regarding the strategic budget choices they will be called to make in late April.

In fact, Bill's comment sums up my motivation for creating this blog last week, and for trying to put in enough content to start to attract some interest.

While I agree that the budget planning officials (on the School Committee, Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee, Superintendent of Schools, and Town manager) should make every effort to disseminate the data, analysis, projections and conclusions they have been working so diligently to prepare, I also believe that the community needs to find ways to discuss and share their thoughts on the choices and tradeoffs they collectively face. While our elected leaders are charged with defining the issues and choices, and making their recommendations, the registered voters are ultimately responsible for deciding the financial paths that the town will elect to follow.