Winthrop Town Council President Jim Letterie is proposing a new meeting agenda item that would give the council an opportunity to answer questions raised by residents at meetings.
Currently, the council has public comment periods at the beginning and end of its meetings. Under council rules however, councilors cannot directly answer questions posed by the public.
Letterie suggested the council consider adding a public answer segment of the agenda and send it to a subcommittee for further discussion.
“I was looking at several other cities and towns and their council and selectboard meetings … one of the items I did see in a handful of towns and we get a lot of comments on this with public comment, and it is frustrating at times because people will ask questions and there is a simple answer,” said Letterie. “I would like to look at the possibility … of having an agenda item that states public comment answers. Tonight I broke down the questions, so if this were to pass, the next meeting we could give a brief (answer).”
The new agenda item would give the council president or councilors time between meetings to do research or find more information to answer questions raised during the public comment periods, Letterie said.
Council Vice President Suzanne Swope said sometimes it would be helpful to have some time to think about the question and address it in the next meeting.
“But there are some times when you know, or (the town manager) knows the answer already, and if you could say it right away, if you are willing to do that without it being a problem, I think that would make a better interaction in the room,” said Swope.
Letterie said his only concern was that if he answered a question right away, it could get into a back and forth exchange.
“Where do you stop and where do you draw the line?” he asked. “I think two weeks stinks to wait two weeks for an answer, but I am sure some of them, we could ask for email addresses and get back to them, that specific person, in a day or two, but still bring it up for the public to understand. I personally would not want to get into a back and forth, I think these meetings are longer than they need to be now, to be quite honest, not for any specific reason.
“But I think there are times, tonight there were a handful of questions that could have been answered and it would have been easy, but there are other times where it is next to impossible.”