September 17, 2026

Communication, Transparency & Trust

Svob Goals :  There are three broad areas where Pelham’s governance needs to improve.

These are:

•    Good Governance

•    Financial Management

•    Communication, Transparency and Trust

In each of these areas I describe what it looks like when you are doing it well – a vision of where you want to be.   These are further expanded into elements or a check list and then into my action plan to make progress in that goal.  I will elaborate on each of the three goal areas in separate posts.

Let's look at Communication, Transparency,  Trust. 

The vision is: 

Building a foundation of trust through open communication, having transparency on the issues and striving to meet commitments.

Here are a few of my experiences with the Town that leave me with concerns on transparency and communicating which in their absence erodes trust

• Emmett Street "Fold" Development:  Link to "experiences with the 29/31Emmett Street housing project"
• College Street / Emmett Street Reconstruction Project:   Link to Reconstruction blog
• Chronic annual tax increases, transparency on financial performance.  How to marginalize costs by slicing into small digestible pieces.   How to marginalize understanding with complex and incomplete reporting to stake holders.

Action Plan for better communication and transparency leading to building trust.

• Establishing a quarterly "Town Hall" series.  Hold one-hour face-to-face meetings for Pelham residents to discuss issues. Encourage other council members to do the same.  
• Measure council face to face time with residents and other Town stakeholders.
• Encourage the Town to develop electronic means for proactively reaching out to stakeholders.
• Guidelines for paper communications to residents.  
  • This is to improve inclusion of more residents in reviews. 
  • This will include greater time periods between actual mailings and event occurring. 

Communication, Transparency & Trust Link