ARPA funds have been distributed to the Town for fair and equitable distribution. Somehow Council agreed to develop a committee to determine how 25% of the funds should be used to help support “local needs”. In order to have access to these funds an organization must ask for at least $50,000. Then go through a convoluted decision making process to determine if their request is viable.
This Committee meets regularly under some loophole in the Open Meeting Act that allows them to meet without active live streaming available to those who do not wish to attend in person. The ARPA Committee also operates in dysfunction as it is not fully represented by all the Wards of the Town. The Committee is also under the oversight of Ward 2 Councilman Tom Herz whose presence and influence give that Ward an unfair advantage when accessing information regarding the distribution of the funds. I would believe that any applications on the table will come from the Ward of which Mr. Herz represents.
It has been one year since these funds were made available to the Town. How is that 25% or about $1.4 million was allocated to a dysfunctional committee under the authority of one council person? I applaud Mayor David Foster for having the courage to vote no when Mayor and Council made this decision. It is my belief that he understands that having such an inadequate process in place would not be beneficial to all the citizens of Chestertown. I encourage the other members of Council to take a more hands involvement in how $1.4 Million of the Town’s money is the fairly and equitably distributed.
Rev. Ellsworth L. Tolliver
Chestertown
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