By Jim Tricoli
AMHERST TIMES
Anyone who has been to an Amherst Town Board meeting in the last 8 ½ years has heard names and numbers ring out through the auditorium after the Town Board finishes with public expression. You will hear the name of a board member followed by some numbers. For example: under Bucki 123, under Weinstein 12345, under Spoth 12, under Sanders 123, and so on and so on. The numbers and names are what won’t be discussed because they are on the “Consent Agenda.”
The Town Clerk reads these items off which not be discussed by the Town Board because of the inconvenience it will cause in the length of the meeting.
The Town Board has already discussed these many items during their work session at 4:00 p.m.. This is where most of the thievery and corruption can occur. These items deal with many important matters concerning what different departments are buying or trips personnel are taking, town projects and many other matters. Most of these items deal with financial issues.
The general public who don’t attend the 4:00 p.m. meeting are out of luck. The public can read the 180 to 200 pages of the Town Board agenda which lists all the information about these items but they won’t hear any discussion. They won’t know who was for or against any item.
All Board members were elected to serve the people and they need to spend as much time as it takes to discuss all the agenda items at the 7:00 p.m. Town Board meeting. The public can judge for themselves how long they want to stay.
Jim Tricoli is editor of AmherstTimes.com.
Originally published on Amherst Times. Republished with permission.
