Citizens want more say at county meetings

Photo and story by Larry Austin
Niagara Wheatfeld Tribune, July 26, 2007

Skip Helfrich of FAIR Government discusses results from a survey of
attendees at Monday night’s government affairs meeting in Lockport.

Round 2 of the rise of the 3-minute people took place in Lockport on Monday.

The 3-minute people, so called because of the 3-minute limit on citizen speakers at Niagara County Legislature meetings, were at Lockport City Hall for a second meeting of FAIR Government.

FAIR Government is trying to assemble elected officials with citizens for what they call “scoping sessions” that allow a free exchange of ideas on the process of government. The meetings are called “Government 2.0.” Monday’s meeting was version 2.01. FAIR founder Tom Christy described the first Government 2.0 meeting as “a gripe session.”

As with the first FAIR Government meeting, held June 18, frequent visitors to the county meetings were in attendance Monday.

The topic of the meeting was how information gets into government and how information gets out of government, Christy said. The meeting was an hour and a half long and was broadcast live on Time Warner Cable station LCTV. The public and government representatives discussed ways to get their messages back and forth more effectively.

Christy was frustrated at the June 18 meeting that more legislators had not attended, but at least half of the legislature, and many of their opponents, attended Monday’s meeting, a sign that the FAIR Government meetings are starting to have an impact.

“I thought it went well,” said moderator Skip Helfrich after the meeting. “We got a lot of data collected that I don’t think people really understand yet.”

The information and opinions collected will give the group a basis for direction. “And we’ll see what the response is,” Helfrich said. Another meeting has not been determined.

JoAnn Maziarz-Dicky of North Tonawanda said the FAIR meeting went very well.

“There’s got to be some communication when you’re there,” said Maziarz-Dicky of the interaction between the public and legislators at county meetings. “You’ve got to be able to walk up to them and talk to them. They’re not above and beyond us.”

Maziarz-Dicky said the public attends the regular meetings for the final resolution of topics, but some things are evidently decided later without public input.

“There’s too much ‘after the fact’: after they vote, then they start hashing things out. That should be done before the vote,” she said.

Many attendees at the FAIR meeting criticized the legislature’s habit of recessing to a caucus behind closed doors, preferring an open system as in Wheatfield.

Tenth District Legislator Pete Smolinski called the caucuses “politically motivated” and a waste of time that costs the county money.

“People have a right to speak to their elected representatives before every vote is taken, and I think it’s the most successful form of government you can have,” Wheatfield Town Supervisor Tim Demler.

“We’re only as good as the people are active,” noted 18th District Legislator John Syracuse. In the two FAIR meetings, legislators lamented the difficulty in drawing responses from the public.

During the meeting, Christy took what appeared to be a good-nature jab at the Wheatfield Town Board for the length of their meetings, which sometimes last long into the night.

Demler, who sat with Tom Stevenson (president of the Wheatfield Business Association, sponsor of the meeting) isn’t apologizing for long meetings.

“The point is, I, like anyone else, wouldn’t look forward to a five-hour meeting; however, they accomplish what government should be accomplishing,” Demler said. “We’re listening to the people. We’re answering questions of the people.”

In Wheatfield, the floor is open to the public at any point in the meeting; in the county legislature, the public is limited to three minutes per person at the beginning of the meeting. During a Wheatfield Town Board meeting this year, Demler’s opponent in the next election for supervisor, Robert Pino, held the floor for over 20 minutes in questioning Demler.

Wheatfield residents believe in their board’s process, Demler said.

“Not too many people leave the meeting because of the length. They like to hear the information, they see the workings of our government, and I think by and large people are pleased,” Demler said.

“We wouldn’t hold five-hour meetings if people weren’t asking questions and getting answers.”

The meetings are a product of FAIR Government, which can be found on the Web at fair-government.org or by writing P.O. Box 402, Buffalo, N.Y. 14223.

Will there be any change as a result of the FAIR meetings? asked Wheatfield resident and 3-minuteman Donald Hobel.

“I think something is going to come of it. I really have some hope here,” Maziarz-Dicky said.