Annapolis Capital Punishment

In previous posts I have written about similarities between the best candidate for our sister city, focusing on how that other colonial era seaport operates with a city manager form of government AND which has just installed its first female mayor, only seven years after Annapolis did the same (I hope the similarities between the two mayors end there). We are decades behind them in terms of creating a city manager system. Today I look at a few items from the Newport Daily News:

1. The town solicitor of nearby Tiverton gave advice to about 50 elected and appointed officials during a workshop on public records, open meetings and ethics. Here is what the newspaper said: "We wish more public officials exercised common sense — or simply stuck to the letter of the law — when it comes to making information public or withholding it. All too often, officials refuse to release information that should be made public as a matter of routine in order to avoid looking bad — or, in some cases, looking silly or stupid. That almost always seems to backfire, as the controversy created by not releasing information often is far worse than the information itself.......Public scrutiny is what keeps public officials accountable. Let’s hope for more of both in 2009." See: accountability

2. Newport is now liable for $142.84 million in promised health care benefits for all active and retired municipal and school employees in future years, according to a consultant who addressed a joint meeting of the City Council and the School Committee Wednesday night. See: Promises

Yikes! I wonder if we have ever done a study of our total dollar figure for such benefits????

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