Two Multipart Series in January

ESO has, unfortunately, posted a very small number of articles during the past 6 months.  In part, this has been a side effect of our efforts to provide detailed information about our local candidates during the 2013 election cycle.  We had hoped to conduct a Community Forum where the public and the candidates could have a civil discussion of concerns, issues, and potential solutions.  We simply didn't have enough time to do it right and so we chose to publish a Local Candidate Questionnaire.  We've received very positive feedback and hope that the information was helpful to those who voted.  We're starting now to organize a Community Forum for our next local elections!

For our first multipart series we've researched the subject of Essex County Law Enforcement/Public Safety and Preparedness.  Topics will include: our Volunteer Fire Department, our hybrid Emergency Medical/Rescue and Transportation Department, Law Enforcement Agencies (the Sheriff's Department, Town Police, Animal Control, and Emergency Services) and Public Health and Safety (the Health Department, environmental concerns, and the hazardous materials in our community).  That series of articles will begin in January.

The second multipart series will be the Annual Essex County Openness and Transparency Reports which summarizes the progress achieved by the Board of Supervisors, The School Board, and the Airport Authority during 2013.

 

Also in January we'll start covering the newly energized Essex County Industrial Development Authority (IDA); soon be renamed the Economic Development Authority (EDA).  The EDA's new mission statement will place increased emphasis on local business retention and expansion while continuing to engage in the traditional recruitment of new businesses, the improvement of the local business climate (local laws, regulations, zoning, taxes, incentives, etc.), promoting both local retail businesses and local tourism.

Lastly, we have been investigating a multijurisdictional topic which includes our community.  We've served numerous FOIA Requests, filled several three inch binders with research notes and documents, and have compiled numerous spreadsheets of data, pages of photographs, and several maps.  This is a long term project that we hope to report on later this year.

Please continue visiting this EssexSunshine.Org blog for the latest in our efforts to encourage more open, transparent, and efficient (the measure of community benefits and services in relation to the cost of providing benefits and services) governance in Essex County.

John Clickener - Publisher