The following letter by former Andover Select Board member Dan Kowalski was sent to the select board, Andover Town Manager Andrew Flanagan, Andover Chief Financial Officer Patrick Lawlor and Andover News on Thursday. The views expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Andover News. You can learn more about our policy on opinion and commentary on our Mission and Policies page.
Note: Minor edits were made to this letter to conform to Andover News style guidelines.
Hello Select Board-
First of all – thank you for your service to the town.
At the May 17, 2022 Special Town Meeting, I got up and spoke. One of the things I shared was that I was disappointed that I did not receive one proactive communication, like an email or a text message from the Town to inform me about Special Town Meeting. A few months later I attended a Select Board meeting at the Robb Center and again, I asked that the Town use all mechanisms at its disposal to inform residents about upcoming special events – like Annual and Special Town Meetings.The Special Town Meeting about additional school funding occurred after the Select Board I attended and — again — I received no proactive communication to inform me of the STM.
There has been a lot of community engagement recently about the problems with town meeting and town government. One of the biggest problems is attendance. The town needs to, but does not, use every mechanism it has at its disposal to inform people about the schedule and agenda for upcoming Town Meetings and voting opportunities.
Email, text messages, phone calls – the Town should be over communicating the schedule for these events that are the foundation of our community. The town could ask the school PTOs/PACs to email their distribution lists – not promoting a specific article, but simply informing residents of the schedule. Get more people signed up for email and text communications by putting a form in our water/tax bills informing people of the service. I think the town recently hired a Communications Director- correct? In my opinion, it is incumbent upon the town to proactively engage the community. Residents should not have to search for information.
So as we come up to our next Annual Town Meeting on May 1, I implore the town to use all mechanisms possible to inform residents of one of the most important events that occurs in Andover.
Regards-
Dan Kowalski
Enfield Drive, Andover
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