No changes so far in attempt to restore meeting order
The Amherst Town Board met Monday for the first time under the efficient meeting

policy. Because of the scheduled 3 p.m. start, a representative of The Amherst Bee arrived at the work session at 2:45 p.m., anticipating a crowded meeting in the new conference room location.

Instead, the work session, which included a special meeting, was moved to the board room and began approximately 15 minutes late. Supervisor Satish Mohan and council members Deborah Bruch Bucki, Michael McGuire, Shelly Schratz and Bill Kindel were on time.

No explanation for their tardiness was publicly provided by council members William A. O'Loughlin Jr. and Dan Ward upon their arrival.

In our opinion, nothing was accomplished during the hour-and-a-half-long meeting. At the special meeting, in which two resolutions

about the Zoning Board of Appeals were proposed, only a travel request was approved.

What did happen was Town Board members spoke out that they had had enough with the current operation of the work sessions. O'Loughlin, upset that he wasn't being informed about topics prior to meetings, told Mohan he wants agendas to be followed and resolutions in his in-box prior to the meeting.

While we encourage discussions about meeting policy - the current procedures are poor, unprofessional and excessively long - this was not the time, as Dennis Black, vice president of student affairs for the University at Buffalo, was standing at the podium. Black had agreed to attend the meeting with only three hours notice, on the first day of classes for UB, but his time was wasted by an argument at the board members' table.

Black showed up, on time, to talk about American Campus Communities' housing projects and UB's stance on them, but in our opinion that took a back seat to the board members.

A work session should be a time for the Town Board to collectively discuss pressing items, future items and even past items. Work is the key word in a work session. While O'Loughlin and Ward said the board should stick to the agenda, we disagree. Maybe that works in a perfect world, but sometimes other issues need to be addressed, and officials should be able to respond. We don't support rash votes but why couldn't the totes, a grant application and a concern at UB be discussed?

Let's hope the new "Restoring Reasonable Order & Duration to Meetings" plan will actually work at the 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 5 meeting.