This position would immediately become the most powerful at City Hall save perhaps the mayor. But there's nothing in here to indicate the COO would have any responsibility to report to the public, make his ideas known to the public or do anything more for the public than create a way for the public to complain about city government.
There ought to be requirements that the COO regularly submit reports not just to the mayor and council, but to the people of Bristol.
There should also be a clear provision that the COO has no power to order anyone in city government to refuse to answer questions from the public or the press. In all too many of these situations, city manager types want to become the one and ony spokesperson.
Let's make sure that can never happen in Bristol.
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About Me
- Steve Collins
- Steve Collins has covered government and politics for The Bristol Press since 1994. Before that, he was a reporter and columnist for six years for The Citizen, in Auburn, New York. He is co-founder of The Tattoo teen newspaper, online at www.ReadTheTattoo.com, and Youth Journalism International, a 501(c)(3) public educational charity serving young people across the globe. He has a B.A. in history from the University of Virginia. He is married and has two school-age children.
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