Questions Asked … No Answers Given

It’s Always The Questions That Complicate Things …

“It’s frustrating,” resident Mark Fisher told the Harbor Commission at its meeting Tuesday, pointing out that as a resident his questions should not be ignored.

Fisher, during the public portion of the meeting, reminded the Commission that questions he has been asking since last year have not been answered or even referred to or reported on at any meeting since. “You’ve considered, discussed, but not acknowledged or answered,” Fisher said.

The resident, regarded by many as the most accurate recorder of almost every municipal public meeting and a frequent speaker at public sessions during meetings, also stays on track with all his concerns. If he doesn’t get a response to a question at one meeting, he brings it up at the next. And next. He makes it clear to every elected and appointed council or commission member that just because they don’t answer or even acknowledge he is waiting for information, he won’t forget. And he won’t go away.

Commission Chairman Tom Wall and all the harbor commissioners listened attentively to Fisher’s list of questions he has not had answered, some dating back to September of last year.

He cited four specific questions at the meeting, and received assurances from Wall that not only did he believe Fisher has the right to the responses, but they would be provided to him both personally and at the May 7 meeting.

The resident asked the commission to consider individual votes on correspondence and agenda items, rather than grouping all the items into a single vote. He asked that the Harbormaster’s monthly report be read in its entirety at every meeting. This month’s report was three sentences long, and only read after Fisher requested it. He asked that the commission include on the agenda an opportunity for the public to speak or ask questions on agenda items before any action is taken, as is done at borough council meetings. And he asked that in the rare cases that the commission takes action after an executive session, usually the last business of any meeting, that the agenda includes an opportunity to be heard before that action is taken as well.

Wall assured Fisher he would have a committee discuss each of the suggestions and would bring their recommendations up for public discussion at the May 7 meeting. Wall indicated to the resident that he understood his frustration and conceded that he himself should have been more thorough.

When asked later in the meeting why the recommendations Fisher brought up could not be discussed at the present meeting, Wall indicated he was not prepared to respond and would prefer to have a committee of commissioners make a recommendation for discussion before taking any action.