Board of Directors

The Manchester Board of Directors got into the details of Performance-Based Accounting on Tuesday night at the Board’s first December meeting and fleshed out more precisely the particulars of exactly what needs to be accomplished.  The Journal-Inquirer’s Kim Phillips covered the story:

“Republicans, including Deputy Mayor Matthew B. Peak who spearheaded the issue, campaigned this fall on implementing performance-based accounting, where residents and town employees are surveyed on what programs and services are most important to them.

From this survey, the success of those programs and services is measured through statistical analysis in a written report and budget decisions are made based on what the report concludes.”

This fall, the Republican candidates for the Board of Directors included ‘Performance-based Accounting’ in our Covenant with Manchester Taxpayers because local government needs to make fiscally responsible decisions.  This requires having easily accessible, readable reporting about the quality and quantity of town services that Manchester Town Government provides.  With Manchester’s debt obligations weighing heavily on the budget, every tax dollar needs to be carefully spent.  The Republican-led Board of Directors will do everything we can to ensure that this is the case.

The Republican-led Board of Directors is aiming to make local government more effective by consolidating some of the boards and commissions.  The Journal-Inquirer had the highlights:

“We can make this more effective, we can streamline this,” Republican Mayor Louis A. Spadaccini said during a Board of Directors meeting Tuesday that included a discussion of merging boards and commissions.

. . . 

“Republican Director Jeffrey A. Beckman, who recently resigned from the Commission on Aging to accept the position of director, admitted he would have liked more substantive issues to discuss during his tenure on the commission.

Still, “The people I was privileged to meet and serve with are dedicated and faithful,” he said, agreeing with Zingler that no one’s work should be disparaged.”

It took almost no time for the first Republican majority in 16 years to begin delivering on their Covenant with Manchester Taxpayers.  Within the first few minutes of the first meeting of the Manchester Board of Directors since the Republicans took the majority, the Manchester Board of Directors unanimously voted to approve a provision moving public comment sessions to the beginning of every meeting.

During the course of the 2007 campaign, the Republican team campaigned on their “Covenant with Manchester Taxpayers”, an agenda for progress in Manchester based on three principles - accountability, fiscal responsibility, and quality of life.  With each principle, the Republicans added specific items for action by the Board of Directors.  Since the beginning of September, the Republicans campaigned on these principles.  The principle ‘Accountability’ called for a town referendum on budgets that include a property tax increase above 3%, support for direct election of a mayor, and a change to the rules of procedure to allow public comment at the beginning of every meeting.  Now Director Jeff Beckman was quoted back on September 12 thus: “I believe we need to treat all of Manchester’s citizens fairly,” candidate Jeff Beckman said. “And that means listening to them at the beginning of every meeting and not making people wait until 11 p.m. or later to talk about the issues that matter to them.”” 

Tonight, Director Beckman, along with his fellow Directors, voted unanimously to make that key change.