Bristol BudCom chair believes he has the power to assign seats

To The Daily Sun,

It was with disbelief that, when viewing part 2 of the video recording created of the Bristol Budget Committee meeting on Jan. 22, I heard the chairman, Mr. Glassett, tell the elected members of that committee that he would be assigning their seats. He stated that a “few members of the public” had come to him with concerns that certain members were “influencing” the votes of the other board members.

When members expressed surprise and confusion with the chair’s statement, asking to vote on the matter, Mr. Glassett stated that this was his decision to make. He then said that he was going to assign seats to “eliminate an accusation” from becoming more of a problem. To my understanding, this was the first time Mr. Glassett made such a statement, though he so helpfully did so as part of the official record. Further, he also did so without presenting any corroborating evidence, (nothing about when these unnamed citizens identified a concern to him nor the subject upon which the vote in question was cast), to suggest that this was anything other than a self-serving excuse in an attempt to micromanage a committee into limiting the healthy and necessary discourse that should occur when it deals with how the taxpayers’ money should be spent.

Mr. Glassett, our elected officials of the Bristol Budget Committee meet to present the views of all their constituents, all the citizens of Bristol. If votes are being “influenced” based on new information being presented and discussed or of members ably arguing their points on behalf of their constituents, swaying their listeners, I would strongly suggest that this is, in fact, the purpose of the Budget Committee. If Mr. Glassett would like to make the decisions for the taxpayers of the Town of Bristol based upon only his own views, and perhaps the views of particular individuals he prefers to work with, taxpayers should take note, as a self-serving steward of our money is no steward at all.

It is not the role of the chairperson to chill the necessary discourse that must occur in a committee session. It is also not the role of the chairperson to treat duly elected officials performing their duties as if they are unruly children. Such treatment suggests that the chairperson lacks the basic leadership and professional skills to move the Budget Committee forward and, most importantly, lacks an understanding that the citizens of Bristol deserve a fully informed debate as to the use of their tax dollars.

Mary E. Simard

Bristol