CHENANGO COUNTY – A county-wide grassroots organization is pressuring the Chenango County Board of Supervisors to change the way it communicates with local taxpayers.

Citing concerns that the county’s decision-making body isn’t being transparent enough, a group called Chenango Links – a non-incorporated organization focused on civic issues – is calling on the County Board to make changes to its public information policies. Those changes include posting meeting agendas to the county’s official website and allowing public comment periods during regular meetings.

Currently, the County Board does neither, which Chenango Links says is a barrier between public officials and people who elected them.

“Chenango Links … considers it to be in the public interest for the legislative business of the Chenango County Board of Supervisors to be conducted in an open and transparent manner,” states a July resolution adopted by Chenango Links.

The organization claims posting an online agenda satisfies New York open meetings law, and that allowing public comments at meetings is a common courtesy extended by local government entities throughout the state.

But that’s not to say county leaders don’t give their constituency any opportunity to speak, says Board of Supervisors Chairman Lawrence Wilcox (R-Oxford).

The board’s procedure allows residents to make public comments during open committee meetings. Residents can take their concerns to the respective committee. The committee may then take those concerns to the board.

It’s a system that works well, according to Wilcox.

“I feel that our committee system is good enough, and we have an excellent journal clerk that’s very complete and conclusive with what she puts in the minutes,” he said.

As for the request to make agendas available prior to meetings? The county’s outdated website may be to blame.

“We have to work with IT to add anything to the website,” Wilcox said, adding that while it’s a technical issue, putting an agenda online is a doable request. “Hopefully, as we grow, it would be such that getting something onto the website would be as simple as just doing it.”

Yet posting an agenda to the county’s website is only part of a larger issue. Wilcox said posting an agenda could also mean inadvertently posting misinformation.

“Our agendas can be changed right up to the time we hold our meetings,” he said. “Issues we discuss can change so rapidly that it could be difficult.”

According to Chenango Links, the posting of agendas to the county website in advance of meetings is consistent with the intent of Section 103(e) of the state’s open meetings law. But the law does allow some wiggle room for legislative bodies which have an option to wait until a meeting to make agendas available.

Still, the law stipulates that if a decision-making body maintains a website, an agenda should be posted to the website “to the extent practicable as determined by the agency or department” before a meeting.

Wilcox says posting a proposed agenda – subject to change at meetings – may be a possibility.

While county officials are not yet actively working with their IT department, he said they may change the way information is presented as technology changes.

“I think it’s something that will grow with our system,” he said.

He added, “I don’t think there’s anything intended to be hidden by Chenango County; but at the same token, I don’t want to put out information that’s not going to provide what people don’t want.”

Chenango Links’ proposal is backed by the Chenango County Democratic Committee which also passed a resolution last month requesting the same action from the County Board of Supervisors.