Category: Open Records/Transparency

My Official Supervisor Activities for Q2 2021

The following is a summary of my Supervisor-related activities for the second quarter of 2021 (April through June) of 2021. In Q2 2021 I spent, on average, 39 hours per month on official Supervisor business. This compares with an average of 37 hours per month in Q2 2020 during the height of COVID-19 lockdown.

Log of Hours Spent on Official Business

My log keeps track of the time spent on the following:

• Attending “Required” Meetings
• Preparation for BOS Meetings
• Attending Optional Meetings/Activities
• Interaction with Residents
• Travel To & From Meetings

The following chart shows the breakdown in percent of hours spent on these various official activities.

The following tables shows the numbers:

For the second quarter of 2021 I earned a “stipend” of $1,031.25 before taxes. That’s works out to $8.77 per hour or $127.31 per hour if I just attended required meetings. Compare that to PA’s minimum wage of $7.25. Luckily, unlike many working people in PA, I do no depend on that for a living.

Interaction with Residents

In my opinion, personal interaction with residents regarding their concerns is an important part of my responsibilities as Supervisor. I want to be sure that I spend enough time reaching out to and responding to residents via personal contact, official email via my johnm@newtownpa.gov account and via my personal john@johnmacknewtown.info email account, and via phone, Nextdoor and/or Facebook.

BTW, if you need to contact other Newtown Township Officials, access the Directory of Newtown Township Officials.

Working for You Every Day!

I can truly say that I work for residents EVERY day of the week, but mostly Mondays through Thursdays.

I decided to keep track of my activities as a Supervisor on a monthly basis partly because I want to be accountable to residents, but also to make sure I am making the best use of my time. It's really an honor to serve the community! I learn something new every day and have met many fine people and volunteers who also put in a lot of time without any compensation at all. Thanks to everyone who help keep Newtown in business and safe.

Posted on 02 Jul 2021, 12:18 - Category: Open Records/Transparency

My Official Supervisor Activities for Q1 2021

The following is a summary of my Supervisor-related activities for the first quarter (January through March) of 2021. In Q1 2021 I spent, on average, 46 hours per month on official Supervisor business. This compares with an average of 54 hours per month in Q1 2020 before the COVID-19 lockdown.

Log of Hours Spent on Official Business

My log keeps track of the time spent on the following:

• Attending “Required” Meetings
• Preparation for BOS Meetings
• Attending Optional Meetings/Activities
• Interaction with Residents
• Travel To & From Meetings

The following chart shows the breakdown in percent of hours spent on these various official activities.

The following table shows the numbers:

For the first three months of 2021 I earn a “stipend” of $1,031.25 before taxes. That’s works out to $7.48 per hour, which is $0.23 per hour more than PA’s minimum wage of $7.25. Luckily, unlike many working people in PA, I do no depend on that for a living.

Interaction with Residents

In my opinion, personal interaction with residents regarding their concerns is an important part of my responsibilities as Supervisor. I want to be sure that I spend enough time reaching out to and responding to residents via personal contact, official email via my johnm@newtownpa.gov account and via my personal john@johnmacknewtown.info email account, and via phone, Nextdoor and/or Facebook.

BTW, if you need to contact other Newtown Township Officials, download the list from the 2021 Directory published by the Bucks County Association of Township Officials.

Working for You Every Day!

I was interested in seeing what day of the week I log the most hours on official supervisor business (see chart and table below). It turns out that I spend the most time on Wednesdays, which is not surprising because Board of Supervisor (BOS) meetings are on the 2nd and fourth Wednesday of every month.

Of course, I MUST attend these meetings, which require a lot of time preparing for. In fact, there’s not enough time on Wednesday to prepare for these meetings – that’s why Tuesday’s and Monday’s are number 2 and 3, respectively, in terms of hours spent on official business.

I can truly say that I work for residents EVERY day of the week, although less than 2 total hours for Sundays.

I decided to keep track of my activities as a Supervisor on a monthly basis partly because I want to be accountable to residents, but also to make sure I am making the best use of my time. It's really an honor to serve the community! I learn something new every day and have met many fine people and volunteers who also put in a lot of time without any compensation at all. Thanks to everyone who help keep Newtown in business and safe.

Posted on 03 Apr 2021, 12:27 - Category: Open Records/Transparency

My February 2021 Supervisor Activities: Many Meetings!

In February 2021, I spent 43 hours on official supervisor business. Nearly forty percent (39%) of that time was spent attending official township meetings and one Meet Mack Monday meeting - via Zoom, of course! Read Highlights From Selected February 2021 Newtown Township Public Meetings and Summary of 10 February 2021 BOS Meeting

Log of Hours Spent on Official Business

My log keeps track of the time spent on the following:

• Attending “Required” Meetings
• Preparation for BOS Meetings
• Attending Optional Meetings/Activities
• Interaction with Residents
• Travel To & From Meetings

Interaction with Residents

In my opinion, personal interaction with residents regarding their concerns is an important part of my responsibilities as Supervisor. I want to be sure that I spend enough time reaching out to and responding to residents via personal contact, official email via my johnm@newtownpa.gov account and via my personal john@johnmacknewtown.info account, and via phone and/or Facebook.

In February 2021, I spent 4.2 hours (8% of my total logged hours) interacting with residents in my official capacity as supervisor. Because of the COVID-19 restrictions, I am using Zoom to meet with residents. On February 8, I hosted a Meet Mack Monday Zoom meeting, which focused on the Arcadia III Settlement Agreement.

What did I discuss with residents? Here’s a partial list (some items are not included for confidentiality reasons):

• Arcadia III Litigation
• Renewable energy
• Bringing new business to Newtown
• Audubon Birds on the Brink Webinar
• Council Rock North mascot issue
• K9 Luxury Resort project

I decided to keep track of my activities as a Supervisor on a monthly basis partly because I want to be accountable to residents, but also to make sure I am making the best use of my time. It's really an honor to serve the community! I learn something new every day and have met many fine people and volunteers who also put in a lot of time without any compensation at all. Thanks to everyone who help keep Newtown in business and safe.

Posted on 10 Mar 2021, 13:48 - Category: Open Records/Transparency

My November 2020 Supervisor Activities: Interacting with Residents

In November 2020, as Bucks County continued in the COVID-19 "Green Phase", I spent about 32 hours on official supervisor business. Seventeen percent (17%) of that time was interacting with residents via phone, email, and social media mostly answering questions about the preliminary 2021 budget that was approved for advertising at the November 25, 2020, Board of Supervisors (BOS) meeting. Read summaries of the November 10 and November 25 BOS meetings.

Log of Hours Spent on Official Business

My log keeps track of the time spent on the following:

• Attending “Required” Meetings
• Preparation for BOS Meetings
• Attending Optional Meetings/Activities
• Interaction with Residents
• Travel To & From Meetings

Interaction with Residents

In my opinion, personal interaction with residents regarding their concerns is an important part of my responsibilities as Supervisor. I want to be sure that I spend enough time reaching out to and responding to residents via personal contact, official email via my johnm@newtownpa.gov account and via my personal john@johnmacknewtown.info account, and via phone and/or Facebook.

In November 2020, I spent 5.4 hours (17% of my total logged hours) interacting with residents in my official capacity as supervisor. Because of the COVID-19 restrictions, I am using Zoom to meet with residents. On November 9, I hosted a Meet Mack Monday Zoom meeting, which focused on the proposed 2021 budget.

What did I discuss with residents? Here’s a partial list (some items are not included for confidentiality reasons):

• The proposed 2021 budget (listen to this podcast: "Manager's 2021 Budget Presentation & Summary")
• Threat to resident and police response.

I decided to keep track of my activities as a Supervisor on a monthly basis partly because I want to be accountable to residents, but also to make sure I am making the best use of my time. It's really an honor to serve the community! I learn something new every day and have met many fine people and volunteers who also put in a lot of time without any compensation at all. Thanks to everyone who help keep Newtown in business and safe.

Posted on 02 Dec 2020, 01:18 - Category: Open Records/Transparency

My October 2020 Supervisor Activities: Lots of Meetings!

In October 2020, as Bucks County continued in the COVID-19 "Green Phase", I spent 60 hours on official supervisor business. Over 23 hours were spent attending meetings! I'm happy to report that Board of Supervisors (BOS) public meetings in October were live and allowed members of the public to attend (masks were required). Read summaries of the October 14 and October 28 BOS meetings.

Log of Hours Spent on Official Business

My log keeps track of the time spent on the following:

• Attending “Required” Meetings
• Preparation for BOS Meetings
• Attending Optional Meetings/Activities
• Interaction with Residents
• Travel To & From Meetings

Interaction with Residents

In my opinion, personal interaction with residents regarding their concerns is an important part of my responsibilities as Supervisor. I want to be sure that I spend enough time reaching out to and responding to residents via personal contact, official email via my johnm@newtownpa.gov account and via my personal john@johnmacknewtown.info account, and via phone and/or Facebook.

In October 2020, I spent 7.3 hours (12% of my total logged hours) interacting with residents in my official capacity as supervisor. Because of the COVID-19 restrictions, I am using Zoom to meet with residents. In October, I hosted two Meet Mack Monday Zoom meetings.

What did I discuss with residents? Here’s a partial list (some items are not included for confidentiality reasons):

• Arcadia Litigation (discussed at the "October 12, 2020, Meet Mack Monday meeting")
• Proposed 2021 Budget (read "Proposed Newtown Township Tax Increase is a 'Little Troubling'"; listen to the discussion)
• Lack of Cable TV access to BOS meetings for some seniors

I decided to keep track of my activities as a Supervisor on a monthly basis partly because I want to be accountable to residents, but also to make sure I am making the best use of my time. It's really an honor to serve the community! I learn something new every day and have met many fine people and volunteers who also put in a lot of time without any compensation at all. Thanks to everyone who help keep Newtown in business and safe.

Posted on 05 Nov 2020, 12:54 - Category: Open Records/Transparency