Letter: Opportunity wasted to add knowledgable leader

Posted 2/13/17

To the editor,

“Elections have consequences.” They do indeed, and last November, the people of Bristol had an opportunity to elect an individual to the Town Council; not doing so is …

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Letter: Opportunity wasted to add knowledgable leader

Posted

To the editor,

“Elections have consequences.” They do indeed, and last November, the people of Bristol had an opportunity to elect an individual to the Town Council; not doing so is already proving to be a big mistake.

Last week’s Bristol Phoenix editorial titled, “No consultation,” had it exactly right. Last fall, the town issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for an energy company to install solar panels on the closed landfill in exchange for lease payments to the town. Now, the town has received 16 responses and doesn’t know how to read the proposals and properly “score” them to ensure the best deal for our town. No problem, hire a consultant!

Well, that is a problem. During the last election season, I had the opportunity to work with Patrick McCarthy on our campaigns for public office. “Pat” was a candidate for the Bristol Town Council. He had more experience in government and project (energy) management than all the other entire candidates, combined.

The town government has wasted an opportunity to involve Mr. McCarthy and his knowledge during the writing of the RFP. Now, unable to understand the many proposals, the town is about to waste at least $10,000 on an outside consultant, to aid in understanding the proposals. Why did the town even issue an RFP with such little understanding of energy matters in the first place, further wasting town resources?

I, for one, expect a better use of our tax dollars by town government, and certainly encourage Mr. McCarthy to consider another bid for a Town Council seat next year.

Antonio “Tony” Avila
18 Highview Drive

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