Charter Panel Seeks Public Comment At Hearing June 12

By John Voket

(This is the second of a two-part story on the Charter Revision Commission’s progress to date as the panel prepares for its final public hearing on proposed revisions.)

Charter Revision Commission volunteers are hoping to get an earful from members of the public before they make any “fine tuning” adjustments to suggested changes in Newtown’s constitutional document. A public hearing on those proposed changes is set for Tuesday, June 12, at Edmond Town Hall.

Since early last summer, the six-member panel has been receiving input from town residents, elected officials, and various personnel including the finance director, school superintendent, and the community development director, who is also a certified town planner.

Those appointed volunteers, Chairman Al Cramer and Vice Chairman Joseph Hemingway, both former charter commissioners, Joan Plouffe, Guy Howard, Carolyn Signorelli, and LeReine Frampton, who also a town registrar of voters, have deliberated both minor language and housekeeping aspects of the document, as well as sweeping changes that were among 29 charge from the Legislative Council, or introduced by members of the public and the commissioners themselves.

Ms Signorelli echoed the sentiments of fellow commissioners in a written correspondence last week, in recognizing the importance of their collective efforts to date.

“I consider my work on the Charter Revision Commission extremely important and am glad I was able to contribute to efforts to improve our charter and create a document that will increase the effectiveness and accountability of our town government,” Ms Signorelli said.

Over the course of nearly two dozen meetings during the past year, the charter panel was able to consider and move forward on a vast majority of its charges and self-imposed concerns. Only a handful of proposed measures were defeated, and relatively few issues that were ratified were done so as a result of a split vote among commissioners.

According to Mr Cramer, on Tuesday, May 22, the motion to put the position of town planner in the charter failed by a vote of 3 in favor, 2 opposed. Commissioners Plouffe, Signorelli, and Howard were in favor, while commissioners Cramer and Hemingway were opposed. Commissioner Frampton was absent working at a budget referendum that same day.

The failure of that measure was a particular disappointment to Ms Signorelli, as well as Ms Plouffe, who strongly advocated for the position to be included in the charter and drafted potential language for the new provision.

“I am disappointed that the CRC did not agree to propose a town planner and a long-range strategic plan in the charter,” Ms Plouffe said. “I believe that this failure commits us to a less efficient future, in which we will struggle to address issues in a haphazard manner, without the context of a professionally developed long-range plan.”

Ms Signorelli said she, too, was disappointed the commission was unable to agree that Newtown “desperately needs a town planner.”

“The only way to guarantee that Newtown receives the expert professional guidance it requires during its inevitable expansion and changing future needs was to include such a provision in the charter,” she told The Bee in a recent e-mail.

She was similarly concerned the charter commissioners failed to pass a recommendation to mandate the formation of a long-range strategic planning committee as a permanent fixture in the charter.

“I believe it would have been an important contribution for the charter to include in our system of government a vehicle to ensure that sound, long-term strategic planning occurs,” Ms Signorelli said. “The ability to accomplish this with a primarily volunteer government is extremely limited.”

Enhancing Voter Participation

While numerous discussions occurred on makeup and term lengths of various boards and commissions, including a proposal to fold the Board of Finance into the council, one of the most high profile changes was the suggestion to increase the number on the Board of Education to seven members from its current six. And while the finance board merger proposal ultimately failed, the charter panel did agree to suggest reforming the current three council districts to two.

Ms Signorelli believes these issues may enhance future voter participation and interest in both direct participation and support of the election process.

“I believe changing the election process for Board of Education members and the redistricting of the Legislative Council election are important steps toward giving voters a true choice at election time,” Ms Signorelli said.

Ms Frampton, who is also one of two Newtown registrars of voters, said by changing the Board of Education makeup to seven members the charter commission is helping ensure voters will have a little choice as each party vies for the extra seat. 

Ms Signorelli also commended a move to provide a written statement at the beginning of the charter reminding unaffiliated voters that they have a place and an ability to easily participate in the political process, even though they may remain outside the two major parties.

“Addressing the ability of unaffiliated voters to run for office is a good step toward enhancing the representation that the citizens of this town receive,” she said.

“Obviously it will be up to the electorate to reflect this need and priority in its choice of leadership during future elections,” Ms Signorelli continued. “I look forward to receiving input from fellow citizens during the public hearing and finalizing Revision proposals that will hopefully be embraced by the Legislative Council and voters.”

Ms Frampton agreed, adding the move to remind unaffiliated voters of the process to participate as candidates for election was vital, considering recent elections have been virtually devoid of any interparty competition.

“I am hopeful that the parties will start giving us choices on all the boards, but there is always room for nonparty members to run as well,” she said.  “All they have to do is ask about qualifications — it is easier than most people think.”

Ms Plouffe concurred.

“By encouraging unaffiliated voters to run for office we will not only provide a pool of new candidates, but also hopefully lead to contested elections,” Ms Plouffe said. “To help accomplish that, we will be proposing a much streamlined budget process and a much more welcoming environment for unaffiliated citizens who may wish to offer themselves as candidates.” 

Ms Frampton was discouraged, however, by her 11th-hour attempt to change language in the charter giving the school board the first pass at filling interim vacancies on its own board. She suggested that responsibility should lie solely with the board of selectmen endorsing a candidate brought forward by the first selectman.

Her move to assert this change was not seconded by other commissioners, so it died before any discussion transpired on the matter.

“The voters would have had a bigger voice if the BOE [Board of Education] wasn’t allowed to replace its own members,” Ms Frampton said of the suggestion.

A Guide For The Town

Ultimately, Ms Plouffe said she was satisfied the commissioners have drafted a revised charter that will help guide the town, enhance resident participation and understanding of local government, and shorten the complicated and protracted budget process, again toward enhancing citizen understanding and participation in the processes.

“Newtown has experienced extensive growth in recent years and is projected to continue to grow at a rapid pace,” Ms Plouffe said. “The CRC has had the opportunity to help Newtown move beyond current procedures, while yet maintaining our values in this time of development.”

Throughout the process to date, Mr Cramer continued to praise his fellow commissioners on their stimulating debate and their dedication to bringing relevant ideas and exchanges to the table.

“We heard a lot of good ideas and had a lot of interesting debate to help bring us to the point where we were able to vote not only on the charges brought to us by the council, but on 15 other points we determined were very important to incorporate or address in the final draft,” Mr Cramer said.

Once the public hearing is complete June 12, residents will have one final opportunity to comment before and after the commission meets June 26. At the close of that June 26 meeting, Mr Cramer believes he will be prepared to issue the final recommended draft to the commission’s legal resources for review. After that draft is reviewed and, if necessary, modified, it could go back to the charter panel or directly to the full legislative council for consideration and deliberation.

Ultimately, voters will have the opportunity to decide on any final council recommendations as early as the November 2007 elections, or if the process of council review is lengthy, the charter vote may occur as part of next spring’s budget referendum.