Budget Failed!
281 No Votes
218 Yes Votes
Budget Failed.
The Board of Finance will go back to work.
An exit poll was taken.
65 People handed their ballots in prior to the motion to vote.
They were split 26 Yes and 39 No. They would have made no difference.
I’ll post the exit poll results as soon as I get them. Who has them?
@TOTN
Um, okay. You’re arguing against yourself in multiple posts here. I’ll respond to each.
You stated:
I don’t blame Amodeo specifically either. I blame the town government, and probably the Planning Dept and First Selectman the most, for the mess we’re in. I also blame the townspeople for not being more vocal and requesting project clarification down to the letter.
Okay, so let’s move on to the other statement you made:
Okay, so now you are blaming Amodeo, right? Here’s my answer:
Mr. Amodeo is not our town’s overlord ruling dictator.
He’s not our First Selectman. He’s not a Selectman at all, for that matter. He’s not our Town Planner. And, he isn’t paid like all of the above. He’s an elected volunteer who serves the community (in my opinion) to the best of his ability. If a volunteer can’t make it to some meetings, I’m not going to lose sleep over it. That’s why we have other members and alternates on these boards and commissions. If Mr. Amodeo couldn’t attend some meetings, then I assume they were for valid reason, and an alternate filled his spot. If not, then yell at the BOS for not following ordinance in maintaining people on the boards, like the WPCA, for example.
Being unable to attend a meeting excludes no one from having an opinion. As I have stated elsewhere on this blog, I have spent several hours talking to Mr. Amodeo and have found him to be receptive, intelligent, and knowledgeable. He is not perfect and neither are you, I, or anyone else reading this post.
It seems more like you’re attempting to fault Mr. Amodeo for not agreeing with you. I suspect that you may actually be in the town government at some level, either as an elected volunteer or on the payroll. That’s perfectly fine, of course. But it begs the logical question why you are not attacking the various town officials who DID vote to bring forth these ill-conceived projects and resulting debt.
@ Reality Check – please stop using Reality Check on your posts … I’ve been using this name for weeks now and you’re causing confusion. Thx.
To All: For the next budget vote we need:
1. An impartial Moderator to lead the meeting – Not sure where we’ll find someone that everyone will agree to, who’s imapartial and willing to take on this enormous responsibility with the related tension and drama.
2. Ease up on Robert’s Rules – the average citizen doesn’t understand the motions, seconds, discussions, moving votes forwards, etc. unless they’ve been involved in town meetings for awhile. And that leads the rest of us residents to wonder what’s going on during the meeting, if we’ll have our say, when are we voting on a motion vs. when are we voting on a budget?
3. A ballot vote for each item we’re voting on: town budget, road funds, other state funds, etc. Voice and hand votes shouldn’t be allowed. We showed our ID to receive a ballot. This is a town vote not a sporting event or concert. Decisions shouldn’t be decided by who yells the loudest.
4. Discussion Time – while this could potentially go on all night so it makes sense to cut it off at some point (based on time or # of people), the abruptness with which it was cut off riled people up.
5. Ballots cast before the meeting – we need to know if these types of ballots will be allowed for the next vote and when they’ll be counted … before or only after the other ballots. Can a resident who shows proper ID drop off a ballot at town hall if they can’t make the meeting or do they need to be in attendance?
6. Exit polls – there should be secure boxes to place these in so no one can tamper with them
How hard can this be ???
Bravo and amen, brother (or sister as the case may be)!
Sorry-”Original Reality Check”. Must have missed your posts.
Didn’t mean to confuse anyone–there is definity enough of that going on already!
@Original Reality Check
I see that the Town employees offered a 4 day furlough. I applaud them and would appreciate a similar gesture from the other unions. Even if it is a modest amount it would go a long way towards showing the public that they understand the stress that the taxpayers are under, especially those who are out of work or who are under-employed.