MIDDLETOWN — The Township Committee unanimously voted at the March 16 meeting to post resolutions on the township website before voting, to promote open government, and volunteers are needed to help with the process.
According to the resolution approved by the committee, the township is “committed to open, accessible government, making its operations transparent as possible for its citizens within boundaries of existing laws and regulations.”
Committeemen Patrick Short and Sean Byrnes, the committee’s only Democrats, were co-sponsors of the resolution that would make resolutions available on the township website prior to the meeting at which the Township Committee will vote on them.
“This is what the people want, I believe,” Short said.
The purpose of the resolution is to help residents be better informed at meetings by making draft copies of resolutions, ordinances and related materials available to the residents prior to the meetings.
Township Administrator Anthony Mercantante said that extra hours would need to be put in if a current staff member did the work, as opposed to a volunteer.
“What we are essentially talking about are the items that come up on the consent agenda, which sometimes could be numerous, and whether or not those could be available on our website before the meeting,” Mercantante said. “Our feeling is that if we are going to do that on a regular basis, we are probably going to need a person to do it because of the volume of material.”
The resolution states that due to the extraordinary economic conditions that currently inhibit the township from hiring additional personnel, efforts will be made to have the job done at no cost.
“The township clerk is willing to make her best efforts to coordinate the posting of resolutions, ordinances and related materials on the township website with pre-existing personnel, volunteers or others after ensuring the completion of her statutory responsibilities until personnel can be hired, retained and/or designated as being entirely responsible for the posting of such material,” the resolution states.
The clerk will not be responsible for agenda material that is received after 3 p.m.
According to the resolution, agendas will be posted on the same day as they are provided to the Township Committee, and resolutions are to be posted by 3 p.m. on the Thursday before meetings, and ordinances are posted within 48 hours of their introduction.
Also a binder will be placed outside the meeting room with the material that is on the website. If information is considered privileged by the township attorney, it will not be posted.
Mercantante said that the township would have to put up a disclaimer that not everything would be acted upon.
Mercantante said it might be possible to find a current employee who could be utilized in this position but given additional hours so the township would avoid having to hire someone.
“It could be 20-30 hours a week or 10-15 hours a week but we cannot be 100 percent sure because we haven’t done it before,” Mercantante said.
The township in the past posted the resolutions on Fridays after the resolutions had been approved.
Byrnes said that he just wants progress made on the resolution.
“This thing has been pending now since September and it really isn’t that hard,” Byrnes said. “I know that because of the way we post things on our site it may require some additional steps but hiring part-time people, I mean come on. Every resolution we get in our packet I scan and download to my computer, and if I had a website, I could probably scan them to my website.”
He said changing the current system would create transparency.
“This goes to the heart of our government,” Byrnes said. “It gives access to our decisions and tells people what the heck we are talking about when we sit here. It increases people’s participation in government and makes them aware of what we are doing.”
Mercantante said that that other towns have volunteers who do their website work but the township would have to work out a protocol.
Contact Jamie Romm at jromm@gmnews.
com.