Transparency in Government: A View From the Inside

Commentary by John Milardo, President of the Middletown Managers and Professionals Association, Local #6092, AFT-CT. Milardo is Superintendent of Parks in Middletown's Park and Recreation Department. The views expressed in this article are those of Milardo and opposing viewpoints are welcome.

The newly elected Middletown Common Council held their Organizational meeting on Tuesday, November 18th. During the meeting, the Council issued new rules and regulations for public meetings, which they say will allow for a more transparent government and a better accounting to the public. How will the new rules change our City for the better? By allowing the public a half hour window to speak on the entire agenda of the night. Each citizen has a five-minute limit to address his or her concerns on agenda items. In my opinion, the five minute/thirty minute rule was desgined to stop certain public speakers; but in stopping them, the right of the rest of the public to be heard on agenda topics will be sacrificed.

Some of the Council members stated that during their campaign walks, the public told them the Common Council meetings were to long and drawn out. So in the Council's infinite wisdom, they took apparently took that to mean: the public speaking session must be shortened. They may have misunderstood what the public told them on the campaign trail.

I believe the public probably meant the Council members should stop all the posturing, badgering, and political nonsense during meetings; and conduct themselves in a professional manner, which in turn, would end the meetings at a reasonable time.

On another topic, a Special Common Council meeting was held directly after the organizational meeting, with only a single item on the agenda: a transfer of $20,000 for the Personnel Department, to continue Police recruitments and other hiring for the City. (Full disclosure: the Director of Personnel is this writer’s spouse).

The Democratic Council majority had already stripped funding from the Personnel Department through the budget process, and placed that department’s funds within the Common Council's budget. At the time of that decision, Personnel Director Debra Milardo, made them aware that the funding left in the Personnel Department budget would be inadequate for recruitment and hiring.

The Personnel Department was the only city department for which the Common Council took direct budget control. Their reasoning was that they needed to get a real idea of what the department spends.

In my opnion, that's hogwash!

I feel that this action is political retribution by the Democratic Council members because I, as the president of MMPA, supported Republican candidates for council, and that it also reflects a prejudice against a department managed by a woman who is intelligent and not afraid to speak her mind. The Personnel Department is the only department in the City being micromanaged by the Common Council. I believe that by exerting control over day-to-day funding and interference with the normal daily operation of this department the Common Council is violating the city charter. This is particularly disturbing when other City departments have demonstrated major financial problems and not a word is said.

Finally, I think the need to exert control is exhibited in the behavior at the special meeting.
The Personnel Director was not called up to the podium to answer questions on this topic for the Council. I believe it's because they didn’t really want an answer. I feel they were determined to give her an answer they wanted the public, and her, to hear.

When you hear the words, “transparent and honest government“, take it with a grain of salt. It doesn’t apply to everyone. Sometimes the stifling of good advice and opinion is stifled under the guise of good government.