Recommendations Of Potential Charter Revision Commissioners Expected Monday

By John Voket

By Monday, August 16, a subcommittee of the Legislative Council is hoping to recommend “a hardworking” panel of volunteers who will serve as Newtown’s next Charter Revision Commission, according to Councilman James Belden. In a series of three meetings that began August 11 and will wrap next Monday with an anticipated vote. Mr Belden said his subcommittee will have chatted with about 15 candidates who each provided a letter of interest and written bio or resume for consideration.

It was Mr Belden’s expectation that the outcome of his subcommittee’s meeting will go before the full council two night’s later for discussion and possible action. If this occurs, it will keep the process of readying the charter review on track as council Chairman Jeff Capeci previously outlined.

 Mr Capeci previously told The Bee that he would like to see the charter commission seated by September 1, and a draft of revisions determined and presented back to the council by the first of the year, and “certainly no later than mid-January.”

Another subcommittee of the council is currently examining the charges put to Newtown’s previous two charter revision panels to help expedite the new commission’s marching orders.

Mr Capeci said that if the charter review process rolls out as planned, the next time taxpayers go to the polls in April 2011 to vote on the 2011-12 municipal budget, the ballot may look very different. He is expecting the commission to be primarily charged with determining if taxpayers will be permitted endorse the annual school budget separately from the town budget, and to answer a question or two to help officials determine the motivation behind their budget votes.

While Mr Capeci said there are other “inconsistencies” in Newtown’s constitutional document, he hopes the focus will primarily dwell on whether to split the budget vote, providing taxpayers an opportunity to accept or reject the town-side and school district budgets independently; and whether or not advisory questions specific to the budget or other issues could be included on the ballot.

If the commission was to broaden its scope beyond those two issues, Mr Capeci though the panel might look at the issue of how departing members of boards and commissions are replaced.

“The method we’ve seen in how the selectmen and the Board of Ed replace departing members is very different,” Mr Capeci said. “So the move to unify the process and qualify the role of the town committees should have bi- or tri-partisan support.”

The council chairman believes the political town committee of a departing candidate should play a primary role in the replacement.

“We’ve recently seen two instances where recommended Democratic replacements to the Board of Education [were] passed over for individuals who were not top choices,” he said.

As the charter revision process moves forward with a charge and committee candidates in place, Mr Capeci intends to instruct the volunteers to plan to deliver a draft recommendation for changes by mid-January at the latest, so the full council can endorse the draft or make further changes.

If that occurs, those changes must go back for review by the commission before the full council can vote to put the revisions on a ballot. At that point, any resident can petition against any or all of the proposed changes, which could delay a special referendum.

If no public opposition to the proposed charter changes occurs, a special referendum must be held in time for any voter-approved changes to take effect in time for the first 2011 budget vote, which will be on Tuesday, April 26.

Mr Belden said after the first of three meeting with interested candidates, his subcommittee, which also includes council Vice Chair Mary Ann Jacob, Richard Woycik, and Chris LaRocque, the interview process quickly settled into a routine.

“There were some standard questions we planned to ask every candidate,” Mr Belden said. “Then each council member was free to ask his or her own questions, and we permitted the candidates to ask us questions as well.”

Mr Belden said most of those interviewed were interested in the time commitment, and time frame in which they would be expected to work. The subcommittee chairman said they were also reminding each interviewee that a tentative direction had already been articulated for the charter review process.

“We know there is a targeted scope and timeframe that will have to be met in order to best serve the voting public in time for the next budget vote,” Mr Belden said. “Of course, by statute, we know the commission, once seated, can consider anything it wants. But a deadline to rule on the charge will be set.”

Mr Belden added that to the best of his knowledge, none of the approximately 15 charter review candidates had served in such a capacity before.

He also said there are several current elected or appointed officials in contention, and that the commission will be limited to 30 percent makeup of otherwise active public officials, with the remainder being citizen volunteers.

“We’re really trying to keep as diverse a group as possible,” Mr Belden said. “But we also need the panel to be small enough to be manageable, and productive. This will be a hardworking group who has to handle its charge in a short period of time.”

He said ultimately, the charter review commissioners will be expected to fully investigate all the options related to their specific charges first, to provide the best possible information to the full council to ratify questions for a planned special referendum early next year.