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11/23/2021 02:14 PMOn Nov. 17, the second iteration of the Town Council held its first meeting in person where the members got their first chance to work together. The council members briefly discussed goals they would like to work on.
Now that the new term has officially started, those elected to seats in the Nov. 2 election are officially seated: The newcomers on the council are Democrats Carrie Allen and Chris Passante along with Republican Tom Hollinger. The three new elected members join Republicans Chris Aniskovich, Carol Walter, and Dennis Donovan as well as Democrat Christine Goupil for the next two years. Former council members Tim Guerra (D) and Mark Richards (R) opted not to run for re-election while Green Party member Eric Bergman lost his re-election bid.
For the first time since July, the council held an in-person regular meeting. Like many boards and commissions, the council had been forced to adopt a virtual meeting format due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The council returned to in-person meetings last June, but that reprieve was short lived as by Aug. 2 soaring COVID cases led the council to decide to go back to a virtual format until the meeting on Nov. 11.
All attendees at the meetings in the Town Hall must wear a mask indoors. Meetings will still be broadcast on Valley Shore TV and posted on YouTube.
Same Leadership
As one of the first acts the council had to elect leadership for the council. Donovan made a motion to reelect Aniskovich as chair and Walter as vice chair. The motion passed with six in favor and only Goupil opposed.
Asked how he felt to be overwhelmingly re-elected as chair, Aniskovich said, “I think it speaks to what we are trying to do as a council and as a town, knowing that this is not about any political party but doing what is best for our town. I personally look forward to working with everyone on the council for the people of Clinton.”
As chair, Aniskovich will fill the role of chief elected official and be the ceremonial leader town. His main duty will be leading the council meetings. As vice chair, Walter will fill in for Aniskovich should he be absent for a meeting.
Increased Communication
When it came time to discuss future projects for the council to work on, Allen brought up the idea of using the town website and Facebook page to communicate news more often.
During her campaign to be on the council, Allen had discussed the idea of using the website to post a sort of monthly FAQ on happenings in town from updates on the Indian River Landing project, to construction and road closure updates, to news about business coming to town.
The council members agreed that informing the public is an important step, but argued there is a limit to what can be done.
Aniskovich as an example said that the developer of the Indian River Landing project would be unlikely to announce the new tenants of the building until any leases were signed, meaning the town could only announce updates as the news comes in.
Walter also pointed out that the answer to many of the question people want are publicly available in the land use office or elsewhere in the town departments, it’s just a matter of people looking in the right space.
Increasing public participation and transparency has been a goal of the council since it was formed. The town manager reports are public and made available on the agenda of each Town Council meeting on the town website. At each meeting, which are recorded and can be viewed on the Valley Shore Community Television channel on YouTube, Town Manager Karl Kilduff provides the council with an overview of his report and details exactly what he is working. The town’s Facebook page is also regularly updated to include information and statements from Aniskovich or the town.
Still, the council members have maintained that the best way for citizens to be informed on the goings-on of the town is to attend the council meetings.
Town Council meetings are held twice each month on Wednesdays. The first meeting of each month is held at 8 a.m. and the second at 7 p.m. The meetings are open to the public and visitors are granted a time to speak in the beginning of each meeting. Links to the agenda of each meeting can be found on the town website.