On Wednesday, November 6, Marion’s Finance Committee met in the Music Hall downtown. The meeting was planned to go over general business as well as subcommittee assignments. Due to other meetings going on in town that night such as the Select Board and the Capital Improvement Planning Committee, the meeting started off a few minutes late.
They began with a discussion on the committee’s overall role and any streamlining that could be taken while waiting for other members to arrive. They stated, in agreement, that their role is to be a representative of the people and their interests to the town executive. The executive branch being the Select Board and Town Administrator. In order to do this and to ascertain the financial state of the town, the committee would benefit from a “detailed presentation on what happened last year and where we are this year.” They also discussed transportation issues and budget increases and the need for that information before moving into planning for next year.
Shay Assad, Committee Chair, spoke about the great increases in efficiency seen by the Finance Committee currently, though they find difficulties from some lack of communications with other facets of town governance. Meeting with department heads more frequently and more regularly, Assad said, would greatly better the committee’s ability to carry out its job.
With their main business done, the committee said they would strive to meet with more department heads and are prepared for January as that is their “busiest month.”
The next meeting of the Finance Committee will be Thursday, November 21 at 7:00 at the Marion Music Hall.
By Sam Bishop