Need for public meeting code of conduct

To the Editor:

Regarding the Creation of a Code of Conduct and Policy & Procedures for the Town of Bethel Select Board Meetings, and Board Member Attitudes Regarding Civic Engagement

On Thursday, 8/17/23 I went to the Town of Bethel Select Board’s workshop on the creation of a Code of Conduct and Policy & Procedures for the Town of Bethel Select Board Meetings.

I wasn’t sure if there was going to be a vote at that workshop, or even if the public was allowed to attend. Since they were workshopping rules, however, I wanted to let them know that at least one member of the public feels there should be a rule that requires the select board to take questions before voting on meeting agenda items that aren’t simply procedural, such as approving the minutes from the previous meeting.

While I was there, Meryl Kelly handed me a copy of “Title 1: General Provisions, Chapter:13 Public Records & Proceedings, Subchapter 1: Freedom of Access, Subsection 403, Meetings to be open to the public; record of meetings, Rules 1-6.”

Ms. Kelly then went on to say that the type of rule I was requesting was “illegal” according to the document she had just handed to me. She said that nothing in that document says they have to let us speak at meetings at all. She said, if they wanted to, they could just remove all public comments from the meetings.

I would like to be clear that nowhere in the 2-page document I was handed was there a mention of “public comment” or anything like it. There is, therefore, nothing saying that allowing the public to ask questions or make comments before agenda items are voted on is illegal.

At Wednesday’s meeting, 8/16/23, the question I wanted but was not allowed to ask the board was “Does the board have to simply vote yes or no on a liquor license renewal application or, do they have the power to modify it, or impose conditions that reflect changes to in the environment in which the business is operating?”

Given that the board was about to vote on a liquor license renewal, I thought it was important that everyone in the room knew the answer to that question before the board members voted.

At the Select Board Meeting Wednesday, 8/16/23, Ms. Cole said she hadn’t read “any of the packets of letters” that she’s received regarding the resignation of our Town Manager, Natalie Andrews. Ms. Cole was also one of two members who admitted not reading a letter hand-delivered by a long-time resident the day after the select board meeting at which Ms. Andrews was verbally abused by Ms. Cole’s husband.

People who attend town meetings/select board meetings are the closest thing we have to “an engaged populace.”

Unlike people on committees who research everything on an upcoming meeting agenda in depth, people come to town meetings to become informed and because they want to have an influence on the workings of their community. Part of the way people can have an influence on their community is to share their questions with and make their comments known to their neighbors and their board members. There’s no way the average member of the community can fully educate themselves about all the issues in advance of the meeting. Some things only come out through the course of discussion.

A prime example of this is the liquor license renewal application which prompted my unrecognized and unanswered question at the meeting on Wednesday, 8/16/23.

Not only were the board members themselves unclear on what noise ordinances apply here in Bethel but, the name of a business on the application, the name printed in the meeting agenda, bore no relationship to the forward-facing business it serves.

How would the average citizen know that without public discussion? If people don’t know things that are that important, how is it possible to prepare thoughtful questions and well-considered comments in advance? Short answer, it’s not.

If town residents care enough to write and hand-deliver letters to the Town Hall for members of the Select Board, those members should read the letters.

If a town resident cares enough to show up at a meeting and raise their hand with a question or comment about an issue up for a vote before the board, the board should be required to “recognize” them before taking the vote.

How can the board speak for, or claim to represent, the Town of Bethel, if they won’t listen to its residents?

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