Finance Committee agenda for 2/17

From Chair ML Nunes

6:30 p.m. Pledge

6:31 p.m. Estimate Receipt Discussion – Gregory Barnes
7:00 p.m. Mr. Michael Shea, Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Superintendent Discussion of proposal for $15 million addition, impact on Dartmouth Finances
7:30 p.m. Consolidation Discussion
7:50 p.m. Schedule A review, budget planning, etc.
8:10 p.m. Approval of Minutes from February 3, 2011 and February 7, 2011
Update on web posting of minutes
8:15 p.m. RFT (if any)
8:20 p.m. Any other business not known 48 hours prior to meeting.
8:30 p.m. Adjourn

This is an unofficial agenda. Official agendas might be found on the Town Website. Click here to read on!

Parking ban in effect in Dartmouth

Nixle is a neat tool, try the link and check it out.

From the Police Department via Nixle

Community Message has been issued by the Dartmouth Police Department.

Wednesday February 10, 2010 00:15 AM EST
DARTMOUTH, MA PARKING BAN INFO FOR 2/10/10 - 2/11/10
***DARTMOUTH POLICE/DARTMOUTH DEPT. OF PUBLIC WORKS*** reminds you that a parking ban will be in effect on WEDNESDAY, 2/10/10, @ 12noon through THURSDAY, 2/11/10, @ 6PM.
For full details, go to http://local.nixle.com/alert/1130151/

Contact Information:
DARTMOUTH POLICE
508-910-1700

And here is the rest.
Click here to read on!

The state budget process

I tried to explain the state budget process in a post a few days ago. It turns out that the state website has an excellent presentation of the process. The link to that chart is here
I think the Commonwealth does a great job ...

... of using information technology and its website to keep residents informed. It is rare that you cannot find something about what you are looking for on the Commonwealth's website.
The Governor's budget will be available at this link tomorrow.
Click here to read on!

Town unveils new website

The Town has a new website. Go check it out here. The new URL is http://www.town.dartmouth.ma.us/pages/index I have updated most of the links on my side menu to go to the new pages. I have not been able to find a page on the new site with the Town Charter or General Bylaws, so those links don't work yet. The new site is pretty attractive and has some new functionality. For instance, you can sign up for email alerts for various listings on this page. Nice:/).
Lots of forms for permits and documents are available at this page.
Looks like a great start. I would like to see the momentum maintained from here ...

... and see if we can add the ability to generate a action request or information inquiry, a so called 3-1-1 system. I previously posted about that kind of system here.
Kudos to everyone who has worked to get this new site up and working.
Click here to read on!

Police department employs web and cell notification system

You can receive email or cell phone notifications about community alerts and advisories from the Dartmouth Police Department by going to the Nixle website and registering as a subscriber. Just put in your information and it will automatically send you the updates as they are entered.

Another example of the innovative use of technology. Should other departments use this service too? What do you think? Is it an effective tool?
Click here to read on!

On Line service request available at Public Works

This email tells how to access the system

Dear Mr. Trimble:

It has recently come to my attention that you have expressed interest in a web-based work order tracking system for the town. The DPW has been using such a system (Gov Q/A)internally since January of 2007. We track over 40 categories of work orders ranging from insurance recovery to requests for tree/brush trimming. This system has proven to be a valuable tool for the department. Earlier this year we added over 60 frequently asked questions and answers to the system and posted them on the website. And just recently, the department opened 7 of these work order categories...

...to the public in a portal on the town's website. This portal can be found by logging on to the town's website and clicking on the heading "Bulletin" (Bulletin Board_ from there (scroll down to see it) click on "DPW Frequently Asked Questions." This will lead you to the heading "Dartmouth Help Center." Residents can ask questions (Click on Ask Question)and post comments. They can also request work orders from the listing posted.(Click on Make Request) We anticipate that this link will be easier to find for our residents once the new website is developed.

Also, we recently posted a survey for the Board of Health on the town's website using this system's survey program. I would be happy to meet with you to answer any of your questions regarding Gov Q/A.

Sincerely,
Michelle DeFranco

Thanks for the information, Ms. DeFranco
The town should be doing this for all departments and it should be easy to access

Click here to read on!

311 systems for customer service

There are technologies available that allow government to receive, track and monitor citizen inquiries and complaints. These systems know as 3-1-1 or Call Resource Management systems provide a single point of contact for calls to a government from citizens seeking information, reporting problems, or making a complaint. The system creates a record of the call that is routed to the appropriate department for resolution. The action taken is recorded in the system and allows leaders and managers to assess the efficacy and timeliness of responses. This helps identify problem areas ...

... and insures follow up on citizen requests.
I would like to see Dartmouth move to this model of service. I think it has shown that it can improve services and reduce costs.
Here are some resources that you can review about this type of program. What do you think? Is this type of program the right choice for our town?
Click here to read on!

Registry adds more services online

The Fall River Herald News reports here on the effort by the Registry of Motor Vehicles to increase the number of services available to customers on line. Our Commonwealth does a pretty good job of making information and services available via the Internet ...

... and can serve as a model of what can be accomplished.
I hope that Dartmouth can expand on that theme. There is currently an effort underway to revamp the town's website to create a Virtual Town Hall.
Click here to read on!

Emailing the government

Mass INC has an article in their Commonwealth magazine (free registration required) detailing the responses received when emailing various government agencies for information. The email addresses were listed on their websites. Email is a ubiquitous method of communication in this day and age, so I'm sure that many users choose ...

... to send an email rather than call or write. What the author found was that many emails went unanswered and many gave incomplete or unsatisfactory answers, some took many weeks to reply. Others responded promptly and even followed up with a phone call. Do you have an experience with emailing a government agency? What was your experience? Do you think that email is a good vehicle for government to serve its constituents.
Click here to read on!

Wiki-government and email contacts

This Tuesday as the Finance Committee met and were collaborating on the wording of their message to the Town Meeting, a member, Professor Shannon Jenkins, commented that a wiki would have made the task possible on line. That peaked my interest and I searched the internet to see if others had the same idea. Turns out that this idea is in its infancy. The General Services Administration of the federal government has a guide to the use of wikis here for use in wiki-government. Dot Gov Watch has an article here about governments that are using wikis In my opinion, Dartmouth is not ...

... using even document management or email as effectively as it should so I don't expect the town to lead the way here but it is an interesting topic for thought. Where do you think wikis could find a place in governing?
On a separate note, there was a sheet in my town meeting packet asking me to provide my email as a way for the town to contact me. That got me thinking about whether or not the town has a policy on the protection and use of that kind of information. My guess is that we do not. Of course if the town is going to gather that sort of information, a policy should be adopted on who may have access to the information and what the town is going to do with it. What do you think about that subject?
Click here to read on!

What progress is being made toward fiscal health?

The discussion in comments of this post has been about the progress that the town has made toward fiscal health. As part of that discussion, a document listing potential ways to do so that was authored and approved by proponents and opponents of the $8.5 million 2007 override request was referenced. Mr. Roscoe has forwarded a copy of that document to me and I have posted it at this link for reference.
Mr. Walker came before the Select Board way back in February 2008 and proposed a Personnel bylaw change which implemented many of the changes proposed in the document referenced above. He was roundly castigated for it at the time. The proposal has since been reviewed and refined by the Personnel Board, but has not as yet been brought to the Town Meeting for action. In the intervening months, the situation has ...

... changed somewhat with the management employees forming a collective bargaining unit and the economic troubles across the state and nation. Unfortunately, we will be going into contract negotiations with most of the town's bargaining units with the Personnel bylaws unchanged and still codifying benefits which might have been reduced in those negotiations. The wheels of government turn slowly, still I hope that the Town Meeting will see a revision of the Personnel Bylaws soon.
The town has acted on quite a few of the items, postage, planning, a lock box service for payments, and others. It would be a very long post to go over each item so I will forgo that. If you have a question about a specific topic, let me know and I will address it in comments.
One area that has not been aggressively pursued in my opinion is that of e-government or the use of technology to reduce cost and increase transparency and participation. I am going to pursue that over the next few months with the town departments.
Click here to read on!

Select Board meeting with Finance, School Committees

The Select Board will meet jointly with the Finance Committee tonight to review the town's 2010 budget.
The joint meeting with the School Committee scheduled for May 12th has been postponed at their request. A new date has not been set.
On Friday, the House completed the budget in the General Court and we should have a pretty good idea of the state budget. Still has to go to the Senate and Governor. There are some issues unresolved. The Governor has said he will veto the sales tax hike.
The House budget restores some local aid (see page 16 of link), Dartmouth's share at this point is $416,585. That number is added ...

... to the $2,123,754 from the Ways and Means budget for a total of $2,5440,339. Last year's local aid was $3,575,764.
It also cut the Quinn bill money by half. The Quinn bill supplements the pay of police officers who get college degrees. Some towns have agreements to pay the difference if the state does not. Dartmouth is not among them. This is a big hit to those officers who had been getting the Quinn bill money. They may be losing 12-1/2% of their pay.
As a final note, the Commonwealth's website and that of the General Court, our legislature, are excellent and a wealth of information. Check them out.
Click here to read on!

Common Cause eGovernment awards-web edition

Several local communities will be honored with Common Cause e-Government Awards for making government more open and accessible through their town websites. The Standard Times article about Lakeville's website is here. The award criteria as set out on the Common Cause website were;

e-Government Award Recipients:
In order to qualify for an e-Government Award, the town or city must post their governing body's agenda and minutes, budget information, general by-laws, and--if applicable--their town meeting warrant and results.

119 communities met this criteria...

...

e-Government Award with Distinction Recipients:
In order to qualify for an e-Government Award with Distinction, the town or city must fulfill requirements above, as well as provide archived governing board agenda and minutes, zoning by-laws, school committee agendas and minutes, agendas and minutes for an additional board or committee, and a calendar with all public meetings. At present, the following 51 communities meet this criteria

The functionality that is described above is something to shoot for and I hope to find Dartmouth listed next year.
Click here to read on!

US Census underway

Canvassers for the US Census Bureau will be visiting every housing unit in every neighborhood in the nation between April and July this year. The census workers will use hand held computers with Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to document the official identification and location of every residence. Census workers will wear official identification while performing their activities.
I saw two census workers doing this task,,,

,,.this afternoon on Hixville Road.
The national census is required by the US Constitution and is used to apportion representation in the House of Representatives and many other things. The first census was conducted in 1790. The census occurs every ten years.
Click here to read on!

Town Website policy adopted

Monday night the Select Board voted to adopt a policy concerning the town website. The policy had been developed by a committee at the library and revised by Town Counsel.
The policy was amended at the meeting and the amendment wordinghas not been finalized but the spirit of the final document...

... is reflected in this version.The policy can be found at this link.
Click here to read on!

UMass students study Dartmouth

Professor Shannon Jenkins at UMass Dartmouth, who serves on the Dartmouth Finance Committee, asked me to post this request here. Her class at the campus has a project that will help the town and Prof. Jenkins would like us to help them.

Here is what she wrote,

This semester, I am teaching PSC 400 which focuses on State and Local Policy. The class has been divided into two teams, and each team is going to be doing an applied policy analysis for the town of Dartmouth. Because this class is cross-listed with the Sustainability program, one team will be looking at ways to make the town more green and to save money at the same time. The second team will be focusing on openness and transparency; ...

... they will be working with the Web Site Development committee in finding ways to more effectively provide information to town residents.

Each team will be interviewing people inside and outside of town government and looking for examples of best practices in other communities, locally and across the state and country. For both of these projects, we are interested in finding out what people in town have to say. For the sustainability project, we're interested if folks have ideas on how to make town operations more green (keeping in mind that ultimately these green projects also have to save us money). For the openness and transparency project, we're interested in what kind of information people look for from town government (both generally and on the web) and what they would like to see added to the town website. If your readers would like to post suggestions to your blog entry, we will review them.
******************************************
Shannon Jenkins
Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science

If you would rather email Prof. Jenkins with your comments, send me an email and I wil give you her contact information.
Click here to read on!

Proposed Town Website Guidelines

The Select Board and Executive Adminstrator have asked the library department to assist in improving the town website. To that end, the library formed a Website Development Committee which has recommneded a policy guideline for the town's website. The cover letter from the library and policy statement can be found here.
I think that the committee has done a good job ...

... and I commend them for their efforts.
Although it is not on the agenda for Monday if the opportunity arises for discussion of and adoption of the guideline, I will bring it before the Select Board. If not, then I will ask that it be on the next meetings agenda.
Click here to read on!

Dartmouth meeting minutes and agendas on town website

The town has posted meeting minutes and agendas for most boards and committees on the town website. Kudos to Mike Courville, the town's IT manager and the town administration for getting this done.
The link to the minutes and agendas is now on my Useful Links list and can be found at http://www.town.dartmouth.ma.us/agendas.htm
A journey of a thousand miles begins ...

... with a single step. One way to keep the content of our website current and reduce the burden on Mr. Courville is to use an interactive format such as Hypertext Preprocessor, PHP. I have not talked to Mr. Courville about that yet but I will. PHP is interactive website management freeware which allows many users to participate and add content. You probably use wesite that are using PHP without knowing it. The URL page file extension when using HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is .htm or .html. If the webpage is using PHP, the URL extension is .php Click here to read on!

Town Websites

Tiny towns and big towns use the web to provide information and services to their residents.
The Town of Tolland is tenth from the bottom in town population in the state, 426 residents. Their website is up to date, informative, and appealing. Tolland's meeting minutes can be found on the website for each board or committee. Content management is through town employee email postings through the software vendor
The Town of Barnstable website has everything from soup to nuts, calendar, requests for quotes, complete financial information and video on demand of every televised board or committee meeting. The content is provided and maintained by the town IT department.
Don't think volunteer efforts can help ...

...provide a website, look at the Town of Gill Here's what the DOR website ion E government says about Gill's website,

The Administrative Assistant to the Board of Selectmen “with support and maintenance by a local volunteer staff. We are fortunate to have a web site design firm in Gill, Starstruck Design, who takes care of the hosting and trained me to use the software, Microsoft Frontpage. We also have IT support staff from the Northfield Mount Hermon private school located in Gill on the town IT team that assist with network connections (actually set up and installed the network at Town Hall), email and computer related issues including purchasing etc. The only cost to the town is the annual fee of $100 for hosting the website and of course my time. I spend approximately zero to four hours a week, dependent upon the need for changes to the website. We recently added a recreation page highlighting programs and schedules and hope to add a separate page for library programs and board minutes in the future as well.

With a vision for what is possible and a commitment to make it work, even a town the size of Gill (population 1,620), can post Select Board agendas and minutes on their website
Click here to read on!

E government for Dartmouth

The Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) has a webpage with links to resources and articles on electronic government (E government) for towns. As the DOR page says,

"E-government has the potential to shrink the importance of size, distance, and remoteness in interacting with state oversight agencies and in delivering services to local residents."

The DOR also notes that,

"State and local governments, therefore, both have a vested interest in expanding the potential of E-government services to all municipalities in the Commonwealth."

The Commonwealth has already invested ...

... in E-government and a wide range of state services are available online (from education results to the Registry of Motor Vehicles) as well as information from every agency and branch.
Towns can benefit from technology too. One interesting example is called One Call Town Hall or 311 customer service. All calls to the town are routed to an operator who prepares a task order based upon the call and forwards it to the appropriate department. The task order is sent electronically and provides a means for governments to measure their responsiveness and to manage with fewer people answering the phones. This technology is also inexpensive according to the case study.
The question will be raised, why commit to E government? The DOR lists four potential benefits,

Potential for improving internal processes
Increased public awareness of issues
Improved public participation in the democratic process
Faster, more efficient transactions

Technology has fundamentally changed our way of life and government has been slow to adapt. Towns are now faced with eliminating jobs and services or delivering them in a different way. E government will be part of the process.
Click here to read on!