By Donald Goughan
During Citizens for Responsible City Government’s (CFRCM) recent very successful effort to gather signatures for a petition to put a charter amendment on the November ballot, (we actually obtained about 10 percent more than was required) one recurring concern was voiced. You, the taxpayer of Caribou, did not feel connected to your city government. It, the city government, is going in a direction you do not like. Of major concern is spending and consequently your property taxes.
Many issues of just the last six months could be listed, however, CFRCM believes that you know most of them. You, the citizens of Caribou, should be number one on the top shelf, so to speak, in the local government body. After all, it’s your tax dollars that fuel the machine. You, in turn, elect councilors to run the city, as you, the taxpayers, desire it to be run. You expect the councilors you have elected to run the city in an informed and serious manner. I repeat, an informed manner — a manner that has you in mind as someone who has elected them to do this most serious job, particularly in these times. The councilors, in turn, have the services of a city manager to supervise and run the departments that run the city. The city manager is responsible to the councilors, who are responsible to you, the taxpayer. Many of you expressed your concern that you, the taxpayer, are on the bottom of the pile rather than the top.
Does CFRCM have all the answers? Certainly not. We do, however, have a suggestion we would like to put forth. It may not be a novel idea, but it is worth the effort to accomplish.
The councilors should have their packets containing information on which they will be discussing and voting given to them at least two days before the weekend of the Monday evening that they will be meeting. That would give them extra time to study the serious issues to be presented at the council meeting. The councilors, like the rest of us, would like to enjoy their weekends, being with family, going to camp, outings, etc. Consequently, when their information is given to them on Friday afternoon as is currently done, some come to the meeting insufficiently prepared.
Of particular concern, at this point, is the authorizing of financial statements. They, the councilors, should be knowledgeable of the financial statements and question the city manager as to their concerns. They are there to ask the questions on your behalf. The city manager’s job is to supply the answers. You, the taxpayer, can then see, either on TV or by attending the meetings, your elected officials doing their jobs, and you, the taxpayer, the ones who supply the funds to run this machine, will be on the top shelf.
It may be argued that there is not sufficient time to get the information to the councilors by the Wednesday preceding the meeting, but it would only take a month to move everything up 48 hours. It can be done! Fifty to 75 percent of the time, there are addendums to the agenda for last-minute items. That could continue.
At the September 14th council meeting, there was a financial statement presented by the city manager in excess of 25 pages, which represents multiple thousands of your dollars. To the best of my recollection, there were few, if any, questions asked by the councilors. On the other hand, the council was asked to consider acting on bids for four worn out police cars, two of them were considered junk, a third one next to junk, the fourth one, a 2007 model, was the only one that had any value. The questions concerned the 2007 model, and the councilors spent 15 to 20 minutes on this subject, yet almost nothing on your monies in the financial statement. How can you be informed when, frankly, it’s questionable if the councilors are knowledgeable on your behalf?
As I said, not a novel idea but … put yourself on top, you pay the bills, demand to know where your money is going, demand that the councilors implement this change. They should be taking care of this city for you.
Elections are coming. Vote. And please check out CaribouWatch.com often.
