FinCom is Doing Its Job
I read in the April 9, 2020, issue of the Fairhaven Neighborhood News (BPW talks road repair and piping plovers) that Mr. Wotton (chair, Board of Public Works) and Mr. Furtado (Superintendent of DPW) are displeased that the Finance Committee wanted to see the roads that the BPW intends to spend money on during the coming year.
They asserted that the Finance Committee’s sole role is to allocate money, and the Committee should have nothing to say about the choice of roads.
I think they have got it wrong. The role of the Finance Committee is to serve as a watchdog for the town and, more specifically, for Town Meeting. FinCom is not just a group of bean counters. Historically, FinCom’s role includes examining the appropriateness of expenditures and giving its opinion when articles are proposed at Town Meeting.
Personally, I value hearing that opinion, as FinCom generally can examine matters in greater detail than I can, especially expenditures.
Several years ago at a Town meeting, a BPW member expressed a similar opinion to that of Mr. Wotton and Mr. Furtado, saying essentially, “Just give us the money. We’ll decide what to do with it.”
That didn’t fly then, and it should not fly now.
I urge the BPW to be more open on this matter. Let the FinCom have what they need. I don’t see that they’re asking for veto power over the BPW’s plans — just the information they need to do their jobs well.
I call that sticking to their jobs.
Rich Griffiths, Fairhaven
•••
Support local journalism, donate to the Neighb News with PayPal.
Click here to download the entire 4/23/20 issue: 04-23-20 Daffodils
