We live in the Information Age.
Google that phrase. It takes 0.46 seconds to get 10,180,000,000 results.
Yet Westport cannot convey basic information — background material on upcoming board and commission meetings, say — to its 26,000 residents.
“Most towns haven’t kept up” with the Information Age, John McCarthy says.
Westport is “probably better than many,” he acknowledges. “But we can do better.”
If he — and a group of like-minded citizens — have their way, we will.
John McCarthy
A 1982 Staples High School graduate who returned here a few years after college and now serves as CFO for technology companies, he has a strong interest in local affairs.
He walks the talk, having run for — and served on — the Representative Town Meeting (RTM).
McCarthy comments frequently on town issues, on “06880.” He’s not the only one.
So after he wrote some long-simmering thoughts about how well (that is, poorly) town bodies share information, he shared them with several Westporters he thought might share his views.
They did.
McCarthy was sparked by 2 recent controversies: The Westport Community Gardens/Long Lots Elementary School project, and a new plan for Parker Harding Plaza.
While very different issues, he says, “the outpouring of concern over both are largely driven by the same recurring theme: Ordinary Westport residents do not feel like they always get the complete story from elected and appointed officials.”
This is not the first (and second) time this has happened, McCarthy notes.
And, he adds, “it is a non-partisan problem. It has existed with both Democratic and Republican town administrations.”
The Westport Community Gardens and Long Lots Preserve may be impacted by renovation or new construction of the nearby elementary school. But detailed plans have not been released publicly.
The result — “The Open Westport Initiative” — is “a non-partisan effort to make information and data created and stored inside Westport’s town government easily accessible to the public.”
“We have to make sure everyone has access to facts, so they can make up their own minds about issues,” McCarthy says.
Without access to information, residents “attribute malice” to decisions that are made. Often, McCarthy explains, “the decision-makers just have more facts.”
The reason that, for example, background materials are not posted along with meeting agendas — though they are emailed to commission, board and RTM members — is not because of malice, or a desire for power, he believes.
It is due, he says, to a combination of inertia, lack of technical know-how, and “maybe fear from lawyers that sharing everything might somehow hurt the town.”
Whenever he talks about “transparency” with town officials, McCarthy says, “they say, ‘all meetings are publicly noticed.’
“That’s true. But we have to go well beyond the legal notice.”
McCarthy notes that some meetings are still recorded on cassette tapes. He urges the town to invest in real-time transcription — a technology that is readily available.
Some town meetings are still interrupted to change cassette tapes.
McCarthy would also like to see every bit of information on a Town Hall computer or server — except for private, personal data — be searchable by every resident, wherever they are.
“None of this should be controversial,” McCarthy insists. “Though I’m sure it will be.”
The next step is “getting people to talk about this. Let’s see if any elected officials want to take it up as a battle cry.”
Perhaps, he says, a group like the League of Women Voters can develop a “public transparency scorecard.” They could grade local boards and commissions on a variety of criteria, and publicize the results.
This project is not tied to the upcoming municipal election, McCarthy says. However, “if I was running for office and supported this idea, I’d say, ‘If elected I’ll do whatever I can to make this a reality.”
So far, McCarthy has financed the entire project himself: He paid $10 to register the OpenWestport.org domain.
He hopes “06880” readers will comment on his idea (including perhaps, “things are fine just the way they are”).
“I have lots of good stories about dealing with Town Hall. Other times, there’s room for improvement,” he says.
“It all comes down to the old saying: ‘Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But they’re not entitled to their own set of facts.’
“I want us all to operate from the same set of facts.”
The Open Westport initiative was signed by Toni Simonetti, Morley Boyd, Tom Prince, John McCarthy, Susan McCarthy, Chris Grimm, John Suggs, Grayson Braun, Jamie Walsh, Doug Enslin and Jay Walshon. Click here to read the full document. Questions? Email john@openwestport.org.
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