Island Park skate update and meta-commentary
There was a meeting last night of about 30 Portsmouth citizens to form an organization called the Island Park Crime Watch Committee, and according to multiple sources who were present, a slate of officers was elected and bylaws were approved.
Full disclosure up front: Members of this group have been involved in the ongoing discussions about a skateboard area in the Island Park playground, a process in which I have been a participant.
This is a very delicate position for me as a citizen journalist, one which gets to the heart of the conflicts that can arise when engaged citizens report on their communities. There will be times when such reporters are part of the story. This is one of them. And so, at the risk of excessive navel gazing, I want to be very clear about my approach.
I have committed in the past not to discuss what went on at the meetings among members of the group, and I have no reason to revisit that decision. I will not disclose the contents of e-mail or verbal conversations I initiate unless I explicitly tell people that I am seeking information as a journalist. If people *send* me things, going forward, unless they tell me to treat the material as off the record, I am assuming they understand that I may run them.
This is essentially the same set of ground rules I use whenever I talk to someone at Town Hall; there are times I'm asking something as a resident, and times I'm asking as a reporter, and I try to be very clear which hat I'm wearing. Sometimes it's implied, and sometimes I will put in the first line of the e-mail, "I'm asking this as a reporter."
So, going forward I will try to cover this the way I would any other Portsmouth process, asserting that those in leadership roles in any organization attempting to influence a public decision are necessarily public figures.
I will be upfront about my participation and my point of view. And let me be absolutely clear what that is: I support a skating area in the Island Park playground. As a parent, I have an interest in having what I regard as safe, appropriate recreation facilities in my neighborhood. If you take that to be a bias, that is my bias.
My other option is to recuse myself, to voluntarily *not* cover this at all. And while I have seriously considered that — indeed, I have been thinking about it the entire time this process has been ongoing — I feel that the benefit of more information for the public outweighs the risk of perceived bias.
Because I have been sick for the past several days, I was unable to attend the meeting, but last night I sent the following e-mail to the Town Council, our Rep. Jay Edwards, Police Chief Lance Hebert, and Town Administrator Bob Driscoll:
To the Town Council and Rep. Jay Edwards:
There is a meeting taking place this evening during which officers are scheduled to be elected and bylaws approved for an entity called the Island Park Crime Watch Committee.Town Administrator Bob Driscoll and Chief Hebert can verify that I attempted to work with members of this group in good faith to resolve differences around the proposed skating area in Island Park. I hereby rescind my support for the report that Mr. Driscoll made to the Council.
This organization never had bylaws, and yet according to the attached e-mail, residents of Island Park are being excluded from voting based on what is asserted to be a list of registered members. The proposed bylaws, in my opinion, limit membership and restrict voting in a way I find unacceptable for a civic group in any way sanctioned -- even in an advisory capacity -- by the Town or its Police Department.
Because I have the flu, I will not be able to attend the meeting this evening to voice my concerns in person (and since I am not a "registered member" I would have no vote anyway.) But should you be contacted by this organization, I ask our elected representatives to look at these bylaws, and this process, and make your own judgements about whether this entity represents the people of Island Park. I certainly feel it does not represent my family.
Best Regards.
-John G. McDaid
Island Park Crime Watch Committee By Laws.doc (right-click to download)
Editorial note: While I received the by-laws in an e-mail sent to me in my capacity as a member of the committee, they were discussed last evening in a meeting open to the public. Also, since I am, in effect, reporting on the content of an e-mail sent to the Town Council, the attachment is necessarily a public document now.
Previous coverage:
School Committee approves Tech Plan
Disclosure and explanation
Portsmouth Town Councilor makes skater hide "profanity" shirt to speak
Council tells community to work out skate park
Support skate park at Council tomorrow
Reminder: Today is PIZZA DAY
Comments
Terri Cortvriend
Thu, 11/19/2009 - 11:34pm
Permalink
Island Park Crime Watch Committee
I attended the meeting last night at the request of an Island Park resident and because I was curious as to the concern regarding the bylaws being introduced.
I have to say that was the most uncivil and unprofessional meeting I have ever attended. It's usually the attendees that are loud but in this case it was some of the board members who were the loudest. Many members present at the meeting were prepared to take the time to do a thorough review of the bylaws before voting on them... while another contingent thought it imperative to vote on them immediately and "amend them as necessary as time allowed in the future" I was having trouble understanding what the rush was all about but since I am not a resident of Island Park I didn't think it appropriate to comment. The bylaws were passed with a promise for a thorough review at the next meeting. Officers were voted on and then discussion turned to the final agenda item regarding the funds that had been raised for the neighborhoos skateboard park. Now it all began to be clear to me where the issue was.
The newly elected board members were unamious in their opinion that a letter had to be mailed out immediately to donors offering the return of their money as the skateboard park in Island Park had been tabled. Many people in attendance involved with the fundraising did not believe this to be the case at all. The newly elected board stated that they tried to turn over the fundraising proceeds to the town to hold in escrow but that the town declined to take the funds since the committee was a private committee and without official recognition by the town. On the other hand a letter supposedly written by the Town Finance Director was sited multiple times as to why these letters to the donors had to be mailed out. There were no copies of this letter to be shared and when the past president now secretary was asked to read the letter; it seemed to me to have been paraphrased or certainly not read in it's entirety. I find it to be strange that the Town didn't feel authorized to take the funds but would then issue a directive telling the group what they MUST do with the funds. When the residents who had apparently raised the funds voiced objections they were shut down and told that if they went back to Town officials or the Town Council without a vote by the committe that they would be expelled from membership and the freshly voted on bylaws were sited as authorization for such a move.
In the interest of transparency which was not present last night I would suggest and encourage this blog to try and obtain the letter written by Mr. Faucher to the Island Park Crime Watch Committee which I would think would be considered a public document and perhaps a determination as to whether or not the Town Council voted to support a Skateboard park in Island Park or if the issue was in fact tabled by a vote of the town council could be provided.
Just my thoughts on the matter.
Terri C. (not a resident of Island Park)