Breaking public trust / The need to move forward.

A few days after the Board of Finance altered its budget recommendation, I let my fellow BOF members know that I thought this move had broken public trust as well as long standing practice and tradition. The BOF had gone to the Public Hearing with a specific, well vetted budget that it approved by a vote of 4-2. Despite the fact that the BOF did not receive feedback from residents at the Public Hearing indicating a modification to the budget was necessary, members of one party decided to make substantial alterations, and the result is the budget now before the town.

Let me be clear about a few things.

— I have no issue with political caucuses per se. They're legal. Period. And I applaud anyone who spends time to further their understanding of the complexity of municipal budgets. My issue here is with the lack of communication, transparency and teamwork. There were 3 members of the BOF (the First Selectman is a member of the BOF — ex officio simply refers to the method of membership, not a reduced status) who were not given any indication that a significant re-thinking of the budget was coming — not even a courtesy heads up before the meeting so that they could have prepared for public deliberation. And there were thousands of Brookfielders who were not given the opportunity to provide input on the new budget.

— The fact that the April 16 meeting was not televised and was held at town hall are non-issues. The issue is not where the BOF meeting took place or if it aired — these are distractions. The issues Brookfielders should be concerned with are process and public trust. The BOF gave no indication at any time that the budget it brought to public hearing was not the budget it would bring to bring to referendum, but the public was asked to provide feedback as if that were the case. The charter-defined budget process dictates that the BOF spend the month of March openly reviewing and deliberating budget requests, and that it agree on a proposed budget for the town to consider. The BOF schedules a Public Hearing to gather feedback, and then meets to consider that feedback before finalizing the budget that the town will vote on. The public comments at this year's Public Hearing focused squarely on the pros and cons of SROs. There were a few 'too high' comments, and a few more 'restore the education budget' comments, but that was about it. No groundswell demanding change up or down, simply a moderately attended public session that provided quite balanced input.

— There's nothing illegal about what the BOF did. This is another non-issue. But there's a huge difference between what you can do and what you should do. The real question is whether the BOF should have gone to Public Hearing with a budget it did not intend to move forward. If this is where the BOF wanted to end up, there was ample opportunity for a comprehensive discussion earlier in the process. 

In the end, the BOF made wide-ranging decisions without having a printed document to refer to, without town employees (who created the budget requests and who will have to manage the consequences of the BOF's actions) being consulted or given a chance to respond, without allowing for public reaction to a significantly altered budget, without all of its members having had the opportunity to prepare adequately for discussion, without fully understanding the ramifications of the changes. And since its action, the police department, the police commission, and the library board have all expressed concern. The Board of Education at their regular meeting on 4/24 discussed their dismay that the BOF and BOE had worked well together over the past few years and did not understand how additional reductions were made without their having an opportunity for feedback and clarification.

Budgets are difficult in the best of times, but the process we've followed in the past of presenting a budget that the BOF had the intention of moving forward and responding to input from the Public Hearing has served the town well. This break should trouble everyone — regardless of their views.

But — we are where we are. 

There is a budget before the town, and history shows the perils of voting budgets down hoping they will be increased. While my concerns with BOF process and communication remain, I encourage the town to pass this budget. 

It is critically important that people come to the Town Meeting on May 7, and then vote on May 21 (this date may be changed by those who attend the Town Meeting). Those who come will have the opportunity to vote on several issues, and if enough come, further cuts can be made.

Decisions are made by those who show up. I urge all to come to the Town Meeting, vote, make your voice heard, and stay involved.