Review time...
.
Let's review.
- Dale Dormody, apparent defender of all things government in Gilford, and spouse of the library director, signs a petition calling for the vitual elimination of the municipal budget committee.
- Dale Dormody, after calling for the Budcom's elimination, reads the tea leaves and decides to cover his odds by throwing his hat in the ring for a seat on the same committee he wishes to all but eradicate after some fifty years as a part of Gilford's town government.
- Dale wins the recount after finishing tied with newcomer Terry Stewart.
- Doug Lambert submits proposal to selectmen asking for the creation of an energy committee as a result of the passage of Warrant Article #30 at the March Annual Town Meeting. It is mostly based upon the recommendations provided by the Carbon Coalition- the very group behind the movement that wrote the wording for the global warming initiative.
- Dale Dormody, sensing some looming energy-related improvements and policy suggestions for the town and schools, apparently decides this won't do, and sets out on a course to derail the committee, submitting suggestions about such a committee that runs counter to what nearly every other forward thinking town and city in NH are doing. He hands in a letter to the Alice Boucher- "led" Board of Selectmen, calling for its dilution and, wanting it to, instead of looking inward at the government's facilities and energy-usage practices, somehow dictate to private citizens what THEY should do to save energy, thus sparing his beloved government from any real change.
- The Selectmen, wanting, as always, to avoid any and all controversy and real decision-making, decided to punt. As a result of Dale's handywork, the Selecmen's support of the idea of an energy committee became obviously lukewarm at best. Thanks Dale!
- Due to, in my opinion, the lack of direction and open support on the part of the Selecmen, interest in serving on the committee appeared to evaporate.
- It looked like the concept of an energy committee for Gilford- one dedicated to conserving energy and protecting the environment, was DOA.
- The papers again called for volunteers, and surely several phone calls were made, and suddenly, more people stepped forward. Things were starting to look better for the formation of the group.
- And then... guess what? Yep-- enter Dale Dormody. Just like he was against the Budcom before he decided he wanted to be on it, comes this, as reported by Skip in the post below:
From the Citizen:
Dale Dormody also has expressed interest in a seat on the committee.
Of course he has. Why wouldn't he? It's starting to like like that, without his efforts, the committee might actually achieve something that benefits everybody- the taxpayers, those who worship the environment, and those of us who respect the will of the voters. We couldn't have that now, could we? Why, that might bring change to his beloved local government and its culture-- maybe even bring a look at the new "free" library project-- you know the one being built for the town department his wife heads up...
It's funny how a guy like me gets a bum rap of being "against" everything, and the causer of dissention and partisanship, while someone like Dale Dormody is right there actually gumming up the works. Just look at the history of it all...
Comments
Skip and Doug,
A few minutes ago I sent Doug the email shown below....then I read the most recent post, and I was hoping that you both would consider posting the text of this e-mail and my previous one as a response to that post. I just got off the phone with Patrick McKenna, and he is all for anything we can do to talk through any small differences we have (perhaps bringing in Everett as well) - and then presenting a more unified front to the Selectmen.
The Carbon Coalition information discussing the pre-start-up stage of these committees really stresses the need for broad community support, and I think if we all can demonstrate a concerted effort towards working together right from the get-go, it would go some distance towards creating that kind of support.
As a side benefit, it might help encourage those who are interested in the committee to put their name in the hat - if they could see that it's going to be a real community-wide effort - not just another argument.
Thanks....and here is the text if the e-mail sent to Doug earlier....if you would post all of this, including what was written above, I would greatly appreciate it! Dale
______
Doug,
I don't have your phone number - otherwise I would have called directly....e-mail will have to do for now.
I know you believe, as I do, that it's important for this new committee to have broad-based support. I've been doing more reading from the Carbon Coalition website (and other related sites) and I'm starting to make some phone calls to them as well. They certainly stress the need for broad-based community support, and they give a number of suggestions on how to obtain that support in these early stages of committee formation.
We have what I believe are some rather small differences of opinion about the formation and direction of the committee. I would like to suggest that you and I (and Patrick McKenna as well? - I've just left a phone message for him - maybe Everett McLaughlin, too) - get together to talk through this stuff, and discuss some of the start-up suggestions provided by the Carbon Coalition. Since it's taking longer than expected to get a good number of people to apply for the committee (I think there should be much more marketing of this than simple ads in the paper, by the way) - why not take advantage of the time to get some of this stuff worked out?
I'm going to ask for some time on the Selectmen's calendar in their next scheduled meeting to ask that they give the process of soliciting members some more time, and to very briefly touch on some of the issues that the Carbon Coalition discusses regarding creation of this new committee. I think it would really send a great signal - not just to the selectmen, but to pretty much everyone in town, including those who might consider becoming a member of this committee - if I could also tell the Selectmen that we were working together to resolve the small differences we have about committee focus, and were also working as a team to branch out to other existing boards and commissions (as the Carbon Coalition suggests) to get their input on how the committe should be formed, etc.
What do you think? Would you like to work as a team on this? I'm going to be discussing the same thing with Everett and Patrick - to see if we can get together possibly before the next Selectmen's meeting on September 12th?
Dale
Dale Dormody
daledormody@gilfordbudget.com
Posted by: Dale Dormody | August 30, 2007 11:27 AM