Editorial

Council should avoid minutiae

The Gray Town Council met in workshop session Monday night, as they do every second and fourth Monday. They discussed the people's business for 5 and a half hours, adjourning at 11:30. Previous workshops have been equally lengthy. There were no solidly completed work products by the end of the evening.

The Council reviewed the Downtown Master Plan scope of services and contract with Planner Dick Cahill, reviewed the front end loader bids for the public works department with Public Works Director Steve LaVallee and discussed the price of salt, reviewed Pineland's request to discontinue a portion of the Meguire Road, reviewed the proposed Agritourism amendment to the Town zoning, reviewed tax acquired properties, and reviewed the Council Rules per request of John Welch.

Of the 6 work items, five were administrative. Five of the six were not necessary for the Council to review to the level of degree that they spent on Monday. The Council spent 83% of their time working on items that staff is meant to complete.

The SAD 15 Board does not meet with staff to review a scope of services contract. The New Gloucester Selectmen do not meet with staff to discuss the price of salt. The Council should only be working on items that are worthy of their review, and the rest is minutiae that staff is paid to complete.

Getting involved with micromanaging drafts of portions of ordinances, reviewing contracts, conferring on whether to discontinue a road, are all items that paid staff complete and forward to the Manager. Then the Manager should either report it as a completed work item, or bring it up at a regular meeting for Council to act on.

Spending too many hours at workshops means that Council is involved with minutiae, and if they are involved with minutiae then they are micromanaging. If Council is delving into and drowning in minutiae, there is something wrong. Only high level items should be coming before the elected body.

Too many meetings that do not accomplish what Council wants and instead are redirected into doing staff's work is dispiriting and distracts Council from their core issues. It sucks energy too. The Council should redirect the Manager and staff to complete their work all by themselves. They should ensure that the Manager is doing his job and not offloading work onto their plate. Then, and only then, can they complete their own.

Editorial by Elizabeth Prata
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