Courtesy And Respect Are Never Out Of Order

Just observing. Respect should be a two way street. But elected officials especially need to respect the input from citizens. They might learn something.

As for "negativity," when citizens ask elected officials for answers, it seems pretty negative to ignore their queries and refuse to respond in public. It is elected officials who answer to the citizens, not the other way around. Witness last night's Town Board meeting as reported (so far) by Town Dock:

"7:26a The Town Board voted 4-0 last night to give up South Avenue at the harbor in the land swap with Chris Fulcher. It had already given up Avenue A in the swap last summer. More on that coming. (In the meantime, see posting from last night – scroll below)

"Also at the meeting, The Board okayed Town Manager Bob Maxbauer’s request to shift $65,000 from the Town’s General Fund (rainy day fund) to fill a budget gap while the Town waits for Hurricane Irene money to come through.
Commissioner Warren Johnson tried to prevent Maxbauer from hiring a third police officer until at least the new fiscal year in July. That failed on a 3-2 vote in which the Mayor broke a tie. Meanwhile, Maxbauer revealed that the part time cop hired in February may be working more than half of his full-time hours in Public Works where his “skills” are needed. No mention of the total numbers of people working in Public Works, a question that Commissioner Johnson posed at the agenda meeting 5 days earlier. Also, it was revealed that about $9,000 was spent on “tools” in February.
More than a half dozen residents used the Public Comment session at the beginning of the meeting to, among other things: question the land swap; claim Maxbauer was recklessly spending money; and suggest a Q&A session between the public and the Board. A short time later, one of the attorneys working for the Town, Clark Wright, criticized what he said was “negativity” and said that people should instead focus on “positive attributes” and “talk about what they love” about the Town. A fuller report of the meeting is coming…"

What I love about Oriental is that it has citizens who will stand up and speak up. That is our most positive attribute. Down with passivity!