Deadline Set For Charter Panel Applicants

By John Voket

At Wednesday’s Legislative Council meeting, Joseph Borst, chairman of the ad hoc Committee for Charter Revision, reported that 19 residents had already come forward expressing interest in serving on a formal Charter Revision Commission. If that commission is eventually seated, Council Chairman Will Rodgers said he hoped to see at least five, but no more than 15, members serving.

Mr Borst commented during his brief report to the full council that the mix of potential candidates to date bodes well for a bipartisan makeup.

“We’ve got six Republicans, six Democrats, and seven unaffiliated applicants,” Mr Borst said.

He also announced that February 7 would be the deadline for potential Charter Commission applicants to come forward, and that interviews for potential seats would begin February 8.

Mr Rodgers reminded council members to tell any applicants who might approach them in the coming weeks that no formal vote has been cast to formally create the Charter Revision Commission, and that the council reserves the right to not seat a commission once all interviews have been completed.

In an interview prior to the meeting, Mr Rodgers conceded that he fully expected to seat the charter panel, but once a formal endorsement to do so occurs, the town goes on a time clock with only 30 days to formally organize that commission.

An attempt to seat a CRC in 2005 was unsuccessful in developing enough candidates willing to come forward and submit a letter of intent and resume in order to qualify for consideration.

As a result, the council agreed that the resume aspect of the qualification process would be scrapped in favor of a questionnaire that would be completed during each contender’s interview process.

Mr Borst wrote in a letter in last week’s Newtown Bee that the committee will be looking to interview “any elector in the town of Newtown, regardless of party affiliation, who has a sincere interest in improving our government so it can be more efficient and make the most effective use of our tax dollar…

 “All that is required is your name, address, party affiliation, and availability for a brief evening interview,” Mr Borst wrote. “By law no more than one-third of the selected candidates may hold any other town office.”

Both Mr Borst and Mr Rodgers concurred that no potential candidate for the CRC should come forward with the idea he/she will affect any single aspect of the charter.

Mr Rodgers said the only preparation he might suggest for potential CRC hopefuls would be to obtain a copy of the current charter and review it.