Stratford: End the meetings already

3/24/07

Stratford politicians have one thing going for them — their town is never boring. The airport may be up for sale, the long-dormant Shakespeare Theater could finally come to life again and the town has picked a fight with, of all groups, the U.S. Army. But what makes for interesting news is also bringing sleepwalking citizens as town meetings on key issues drag on well past midnight. It has to stop.
A few recent meetings have run as late as 2:30 a.m., with the mayor and council members spending hours debating each point of contention on every proposal that comes up. Stratford has no meeting curfew, meaning officials can just keep on going, no matter how long it takes.
Residents say it’s only gotten worse since the mayoral system was instituted in 2005, and the fact that it’s a Democratic mayor and a Republican-controlled council doesn’t make life any easier. Still, there are more important things than scoring political points at 1 a.m.; getting some sleep is one of them.
Then there’s the fact that attendees — and even some town officials — have found themselves locked out of meetings after they step outside for a much-needed breath of air. It seems the doors lock after the custodian goes home at 10 p.m., meaning once you’re out, there’s no going back. It’s not just rude, it’s probably illegal under state Freedom of Information statutes. The law says the public must have access to official town business, and a locked door, if nothing else, blocks access.
And even if it wasn’t at a late hour, the debates are tiresome. There are only so many ways to make the point that your party is right and the other party is wrong before it’s time to just move on already. There are enough real issues facing Stratford without needing to debate every comma and period to death — especially after midnight.
So Stratford has a choice — they can keep things the way they are, denying citizens the right to participate in town business by putting unreasonable obstacles in their way (and staying at a council meeting until it’s time to make the next morning’s coffee is unreasonable), or they can take a step back. They could pass a curfew, which would force meetings to move faster, or they could just use some common sense.
Any official who thinks the public will respond well to this type of behavior in the next election is mistaken. The solution is simple — put a lid on it, get down to business and get people out of there at a decent hour. Is that really so complicated?