It is disheartening when I hear inaccurate and contradicting statements that collectively refer to sitting Town Councilors; inclusive of myself.
I fully dispute the allegation that follows:
“…..Some Council members have indicated privately that they were not aware of BB&N’s switch from natural grass to synthetic turf.”…..
Please note the following email, and attachment, that were sent to the Town Councilors on 11/10/2020 at 12:59 P.M., as Executive Session material for the evening’s meeting at 6:00 P.M. A full two weeks prior to the vote for the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on 11/24/2020. At this time; there is nothing privileged within this communication that I share.
One of the submissions stated:
“most updated rendering”, at that point in time, dated 11/04/2020. Clearly printed on the document is the statement: “PROPOSED MULTI-PURPOSE SYNTHETIC FIELD”.
The email, and accompanying materials, were sent to all nine Town Councilors, confirming synthetic turf.
From: Hand, JoAnna <jhand@watertown-ma.gov>
Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2020 12:59 PM
To: Town Councilors <TownCouncilors@watertown-ma.gov>
Cc: Driscoll, Michael <mdriscoll@watertown-ma.gov>; Magoon, Steven <smagoon@watertown-ma.gov>; Smith, Earl <esmith@watertown-ma.gov>; Tracy, Thomas <ttracy@watertown-ma.gov>
Subject: Executive Session Materials
Good afternoon,
On behalf of Mr. Driscoll:
Attached please find confidential Executive Session materials.
Regards,
JoAnna Hand
Town Manager’s Office
149 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472
Tel. 1-617-972-6465 | www.watertown-ma.gov
The facts, are the facts…..
Best,
Angie Kounelis
District A Councilor
Wow, that is pretty scary to think that some councilors weren’t aware of the synthetic field proposal. Have they been living in a hole? Thanks for clarifying, Angie.
So councilors receive relevant executive session documents in their email just a few hours before the meeting start? While they are still working their day jobs? Are those docs attached here somewhere? The only information included is the meeting agenda, not sure Angie is including the docs referenced in the email, but can predict sending pages of information in the middle of the day prior to the discussion is useless and benefits only the administration side of our government. Not efficient or effective. I guess that is the point. Would also assume the conversation about turf came up during the executive session, but how prepared are these councilors for these meetings if docs are only delivered to them from the manager’s office right beforehand?