The public will have a chance to weigh in on proposed revisions to the Town Charter, including elimination of the Board of Finance, at a public hearing at 7 pm,Tuesday, April 5, in room 3 at the Community Center, 8 Simpson Street.

Charter Revision Commission Chairman Andy Buzzi told The Newtown Bee on March 28 that the draft report of his panel’s charter revisions is completed and up on the town’s website for the public to review.

Read the draft by visiting www.newtown-ct.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif3546/f/uploads/2021-22_charter_revision_commission_draft_report.pdf

“We’re wrapping things up,” said Buzzi, who noted that the March 17 meeting of the CRC was spent on minor language changes to “clean things up” for the draft report. “We’re clarifying things and making it better.”

Following the public hearing, the CRC will meet to discuss public input and decide if any changes should be made before submitting the finalized version of its draft report to the Legislative Council. The CRC has until June 15 to get the draft report to the council but Buzzi has said he is hoping to get it to them by the first week of May.

Buzzi has said he is looking forward to attending council meetings to answer any questions they may have on the charter revision recommendations.

First Selectman Dan Rosenthal told The Bee March 29 that while he “certainly has opinions” on the proposed charter revisions, he doesn’t want to express them prior to the public hearing.

“I don’t want to lead the witness,” said Rosenthal. “People should have the opportunity to weigh in before I do. For now I want people’s feedback to be organic.”

The CRC has conducted more than 20 meetings since March 21, with deliberations incorporating input from “many stakeholders,” including the Board of Selectmen, Board of Education, Board of Finance, Legislative Council, the Police Commission, town legal counsel, and correspondence and public participation from residents.

Legislative Council Chairman Jeff Capeci noted that the charter revisions are in an unusual spot where they were charged by one council and will now be considered by an almost entirely new council.

With 12 members on the council, Capeci said “who knows what they’ll like or dislike,” but they would have several months to review the proposed revisions.

“We’re starting the second phase,” said Capeci.

Slated For Fall Ballot

Any proposed questions concerning revisions will be put on the ballot for referendum on Election Day (which this year is November 8). Referendum questions have to go to the Secretary of State by Labor Day, giving the Legislative Council plenty of time to deliberate and make decisions.

“It will be up to us to evaluate the changes over the next few months and send them to voters,” Capeci said.

The following are the CRC’s recommendations for charter revisions:

• To clarify that the BOE shall be exempted from such duties prescribed for town departments if such duties are inconsistent with their statutory authority.

• To add to the charter the purpose, membership, and terms for the Fairfield Hills Authority.

• To add clarifying language stating that in case of any conflict between board/commission/committee bylaws, the town charter and/or state statute prevails.

• To permit members of town bodies to abstain from the approval of minutes of a meeting they did not attend. The current requirement is that every member present is to vote affirmatively or negatively on each question raised except in cases of conflict of interest.

• To add the procedure for filling vacancies on the BOE to section 2-31.

• To increase the time from 45 to 90 days to fill a vacancy on appointive boards and commissions to provide appropriate flexibility in appointing new members.

• To restore the council as the town’s sole fiscal authority by eliminating the BOF from the charter.

• To add “Registrar of Vital Statistics” as a responsibility of the town clerk to align the charter with Connecticut general statutes.

• To add “Civilian Review Board” as a responsibility of the Board of Police Commissioners to align the charter with Connecticut general statutes.

• To remove the Building Appeals Board from the charter. No legislative history nor purpose nor meaning has been found to keep this board in the charter. Additionally, the Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning and Zoning Commission cover all aspects and purposes.

• To add “or a reduction in environmental impact” to the summary of general responsibilities of the Sustainable Energy Commission as a clarification.

• To incorporate the provisions of Newtown Ordinance 124, which governs elections of the BOE, into the charter.

• To clarify that the BOE has its own finance director (separate from the town).

• To revise language regarding the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for the town to broaden the current language from a five‐year plan to a plan of at least five years with annual adjustments.

• To clarify that regulations that are proposed to be adopted, amended, or repealed by the council will be referred to the BOS, BOE, or other town bodies, as their interests are affected, at least 90 days prior to approval by the council.

• To clarify the language related to budget amendments, in the event that a budget fails at referendum, in order to make the intent and process clear.

• To clarify and define authorities and limits related to special appropriations versus emergency appropriations made by the council.

• Council can authorize Special Appropriations up to a cumulative amount not to exceed $1,500,000 in one fiscal year. Amounts in excess must go to referendum.

• Council can authorize emergency appropriations up to a cumulative amount not to exceed one mill on the most recently completed Grand List during one fiscal year. Amounts in excess must go to referendum.

• To authorize the BOE to request a special or emergency appropriation (currently only the BOS or the council can request).

• To specify that only dollars that are derived from local sources of tax revenue will be counted as part of the caps and limits on special and emergency appropriations.

Some items the CRC considered that did not become recommendations in the draft report include changes to charter language that would make the first selectman no longer an ex officio member of the Board of Education; making the Board of Education an eight-person board with a maximum of four members from one party; and changing the language of the charter to be gender neutral.

Associate Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.