The Davidson Town Board has called a special meeting Tuesday, March 19, to discuss the fiscal 2014 budget, commissioners’ priorities and “opportunities to optimize the commercial tax ratio.”
The meeting begins at 6pm, at the South Main Square Business Center, 442 S. Main St., Suite 200, Davidson. It’s open to the public.
These “special meetings” were promoted as team building exercises. Now they appear to have moved onto serious business. That being the case, the Board should resume its discussions on Town business only at “regular meetings” at Town Hall – where the people expect it to be.
“Special Meeting” Confusion Abounds in Davidson
I attended the meeting last night. It was much like previous informal gatherings, with wine and beer and snacks, and a free-flowing conversation about everything from the state House’s passage of House Bill 150 to the 2013-14 budget to planning for a coordinated townwide effort to plan special events every year.
The proposed Woodie’s Auto Service near the Harris Teeter, which prompted discussion at the last board meeting, did not come up.
Mayor Woods was present, along with all board members except Brian Jenest. Apart from them, three citizens attended: this reporter, developer Robert Tremblay and resident John Kennedy.
Mayor Woods said the description provided in the public meeting notice was more specific than he wanted, but the town clerk required an agenda.
David,
Thanks for the follow-up on this one. Your brief comment proves two very important points.
1. Meaningful minutes do not have to be lengthy.
2. The topics covered at these “special meetings” are more than just “team building”. They can and do sometimes cover topics such as the budget which would be better discussed at normal meetings. Also, while the Woodie’s Auto rezoning request did not come up it certainly could have with both a developer and member of the Planning Board in attendance.
The Mayor’s wish for a deliberately vague or non-existent agenda also seems unusual. It seems that a better solution would be to return the “special” to these “special meetings” and only call them when there is a very specific issue to discuss that can not wait until a normal meeting.