A word from Emmitsburg Mayor Jim Hoover
January 27, 2010
A new year means new challenges and new commitments. As mayor for the past seven years I’ve been faced with many challenges, of course, not everything was accomplished as planned or expected.
Personally, I find it more and more challenging every year to provide the public with what some believe to be adequate information. In 1998 when I was elected as a commissioner the only source of information that the town had control over was cable channel 99 which meeting agendas were not advertised on. If you wanted information on any town issue you had to contact the town office by phone or visit the town office in person. Since 1998, we advertise all meetings with an agenda on channel 99; we’ve added a website and began televising town council meetings and planning commission meetings. But, the increased level of information that is now provided to the public is often criticized for not being enough informing and the town is often accused of making decisions prior to meetings, behind closed doors without due process and without voting. As a public body, the public has the right to witness the mayor and commissioners conduct business and, except for personnel records, legal matters, contract negotiations and a few other exceptions the town is required to provide writing copies of any documents requested by anyone. The mayor and board of commissioners value the public’s opinions but, as elected officials, we were elected to make decisions, however, not every decision is a popular one. When unpopular decisions are made it seems to create a justification to accuse the town of not providing adequate information and denying the public due process. None of the commissioners or the mayor accepted their positions because they want to do a bad job for the town. Each of us takes pride in our positions and we accepted these positions for the right reasons. Most of our staff does not live in town but, all of our employees care about the town and they take pride in the work they do for Emmitsburg. Obviously I a little frustrated, but my comments are not directed at anyone. I am asking that we look at things with the glass half full not half empty. Look back 5, 10, 15 years than look at the town today and focus on the improvements we’ve made along the way. I know we’re not perfect, there’s always room for improvement and that is our goal to make things better.
As far as providing information to the public, with today’s technology it’s impossible to satisfy everyone’s wishes. With computers, email, smart phones, text messages, web sites, twitter, face book, instant messages, cable TV, satellite TV its impossible to keep up. The Town staff will be linking agenda items on the town’s website which will provide an opportunity to review draft ordinance without coming to the town office or attending a town meeting.
I very much enjoy being the mayor and I sincerely appreciate the opportunity the Emmitsburg community has given me. I know that I will not always be able to give you the answer that you want but, I will always try to give you an explanation about why the town’s position and your position may not agree.
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