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We have had over sixty school children visitors, ages 4 to 14, in the First Selectman’s office in the past month. I’ve also had the opportunity to visit a couple of high school classes, participate in a question/answer session with high school students, chat with a cub scout troop and a third grade class, and talk to kids as they came through the Expo. After “how old are you” and “how much money do you make,” their number one question is, “what do you do?” How to answer that!
I guess I could read the duties right out of the charter … “The First Selectman shall be responsible to the townspeople and the Board of Selectman for the administration of Town government. The First Selectman shall be responsible for the direction and supervision of activities of all Town departments, except the Board of Education, and all appointed boards. All elected officials, appointed officials, appointed boards and Town employees shall report to the First Selectman” … and it continues on for several paragraphs. Believe it or not, I actually tried that with one group of high school students. And when I finished, one young lady asked, “but what do you do?”
“What do I do,” I thought. I know I’m busy from 7 a.m. until generally after 9:00 p.m. And, it’s rare that there is a weekend day that I don’t work. But, what do I do all day? I know that I do more than go to ribbon cutting ceremonies and proclamation events. Then she asked, “Can we see your calendar?” So we reviewed my calendar for that week.
That was many weeks ago, but just to give you a brief flavor, the overview of last week’s calendar – one coffee and fourteen meetings with residents, 382 emails; meetings regarding sidewalk construction, union negotiations, code enforcement issues, website, dog pound heater, personnel, grant applications, employee evaluations, purchasing policies, animal control procedures, budget, Memorial Day parade, and November election site. More meetings … with developers, a business looking for a new site in Colchester, an organization wanting to participate in our “Colchester as a destination” program, two business people with “an idea,” and the Board of Finance. Off to Bacon Academy to see the Mock Crash – a partnership between the Colchester Youth Action Committee and the fire department,
police department, EMS, and the schools; followed by Jack Jackter Intermediate School’s Memorial Day observance; and, on Saturday, an Eagle Scout Court of Awards. In between, phone calls to make and return, residents and staff dropping in for a “quick question,” twelve letters and three articles written, and mail to read and act upon.
Why do I share this with you? One of my goals is to continue to make our government more transparent and to provide you with information about those things for which your tax dollars are used. This is an awesome job and I am so very lucky to work for the people of Colchester. As always, my door is open and I look forward to chatting with you at one of the coffees.
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