What happened at Monday's committee meetings of Stow City Council

My notes from last night are below:

There’s an old saying about laws and sausage. You don’t want to see how either get made.

It has been two weeks since I proposed the Transparency and Government Savings Act, which will make our city mostly paperless, save $100,000 over the next five years (plus $20,000 in each of the following years) and give residents access to important government documents.

The mayor, unfortunately, has begged that we delay the passage of these reforms until we can establish a subcommittee that will study the effects.

In short, I said, “no.”

Call me a cynic, but I raise an eyebrow when administrators seek to delay reforms that make them more accountable to the public. I will not delay saving this money or making our government more transparent.

Last night, we kept the legislation in committee, but we established the implementation committee (which the legislation calls for). This was a positive step. I’m glad that council president Jim Costello saw through the attempts to sidetrack these meaningful reforms. I will be on that committee, along with Costello and several other folks from city hall.

So you might be asking, “Why the hurry?” First, we need to have these laws implemented before the beginning of the next council term (i.e. January 2014), so the transition period can be as smooth as possible. Second, I want the savings to begin in 2014; lost time equates to lost taxpayer money. Third, I want our residents to have prompt access to important government documents immediately.

Some people at city hall think you need a committee to change a light bulb. That’s not how we are going to operate with this “green” initiative if I have anything to say about it.

Council will meet on Thursday at 7 p.m.