Berlin Fire Company President Dave Fitzgerald echoed what many others have said before when he lamented having to explain the company’s financial needs in public during a budget discussion with the town’s mayor and council last week.

He told town officials the way such matters used to be handled — informally, behind closed doors with a few town officials — was considerably less awkward because he didn’t have to be as guarded about what he said or how he said it.

By expressing his discomfort with the town’s current open approach, Fitzgerald more or less repeated what has been said over the years by countless other officials, organization leaders and agency heads who would just as soon keep conversations involving their internal affairs off the record.

Like all those before him who said the same thing, Fitzgerald was not wrong — the old way of doing things was easier and less stressful on everyone involved. The requesting agency felt more comfortable about revealing certain information privately and officials worried less about being held accountable if their reasoning turned out to be faulty or decisions they made didn’t work out as planned.

It’s that accountability factor, however, that caused the pivot in the conduct of budget talks such as these. As uncomfortable as it might be, the best way to avoid misunderstandings when asking for taxpayers’ money is to make that appeal in public and give taxpayers the opportunity to make their own assessments of the situation. It is their money, after all.

Otherwise, members of the public will come to their own conclusions, with no guarantee they will be accurate.

Given the cost of personnel, training and equipment, the town’s current allocation to the fire company probably does fall far short of what it needs to make it through the year. That leaves the fire company only one choice if it is to receive something closer to the amount it requests: it must get the public on its side by making its case publicly.

That could be awkward and even embarrassing, but it’s also the most direct and effective way to get the job done.