My Letter to the Board of Selectmen

Feb. 26, 2012

Dear Board of Selectmen,

I am writing to suggest improved ways to utilize the town website and television station for notifying the public about public hearings and meetings. I am offering three suggestions for your consideration:

1. Add public hearing and meeting notices to the front page of town website in Town News. On the front page of the town website, in the right hand column, is a feature called Town News. This column has been regularly used to post press releases and notices. I would like to suggest that all public hearing notices be added to that column as well. It is in a prominent position of the website and can be used as a centralized location (think one-stop-shop) for these types of notices. My understanding is that public hearings are required by law to be posted in the small print classified section of a newspaper. I am aware that they are also posted on a clipboard hanging in the foyer of Town Hall. I believe adding an additional post on the front page of our town website will enhance notification to the public. As the mother of a college-aged son, I see first-hand that a new generation of voters is using a new generation of communication.

2. Add all town related meeting and public hearing information to the front page of the town website in the Calendar. In the bottom right corner of the town website, the Calendar is featured. As of Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012 at 9 a.m., there are only two postings on the March 2012 calendar: a Board of Selectmen meeting carried over from Feb. 28 and the Annual Town Meeting on March 17. I can say with certainty that there are dozens of public meetings taking place in March which are not currently listed on the town website calendar (again, a wonderful place to one-stop-shop for information). From Economic Development Committee meetings to Board of Trustee meetings, the public should be encouraged to attend and input — and having an up-to-date, all-inclusive calendar in a prominent place on the website can help to achieve that goal.

3. Post all public hearings and meeting notifications on It is my opinion that this is being done on a far more regular basis than on the town website, but I think it is important to note that Westborough TV is another taxpayer funded outlet that, in my opinion, is frequented far more than the foyer of Town Hall. has done a tremendous job in growing the audience of Westborough TV since being hired. We, as a town, can reach those viewers directly by using that resource for all public notices.

Thank you for considering these suggestions. I am a 20-year, taxpaying resident who has had children in the public schools since 1995 (and will continue to do so until 2019).

In addition, I have worked as a reporter in radio, television, print and Internet for 30 years. In my current role as editor of Westborough Patch (a subsidiary of AOL/Huffington Post Media Group), I am involved in working full time with the online community in Westborough. I feel confident in offering these suggestions as a way to reach a greater population in today’s technological world.

My comments were spurred by a growing number of emails to Westborough Patch about how and why information on public hearings is not reaching the public. I have taken time to correspond with these readers individually about where they get their news and whether or not they access the classified newspaper listings and clipboard. It is through these discussions that I have come to these suggestions.

While I am aware that we, as a town, are required to post notices in the classified section of a newspaper (at taxpayer expense), I feel strongly that we, as a generation, have advanced passed the days of town notices tacked to clipboards and published in the classified section of a newspaper. While it is admittedly not required, I think it is a logical effort to use the modern resources that we have available to us as a community if the intent is truly to bring public comment to issues.

Thank you for your consideration.

Respectfully,

MaryJo Kurtz