Council Republishes Proposed Charter

By Steve Bigham

The proposed charter for Newtown appears this week in the legal notices in Section C of The Bee, and town officials are hoping residents will study the document to determine if the changes proposed by the Charter Revision Commission are good for this growing community.

Two weeks ago, a version of the charter was printed in The Bee. That document was considered incomplete, however, because it did not contain many of the key changes being proposed. Prior to the initial publishing of the document, Legislative Council attorney David Chipman ruled that only those changes originally approved by the council could be printed. His belief was that any changes that had to be petitioned onto the ballot – including creation of a Board of Finance, the most controversial of the proposed changes – should be left out of the paper.

That interpretation of state statutes did not square with the view of the Secretary of the State’s office, however, and the town has decided to republish a proposed charter that incorporates all of the proposed changes.

Arthur Champagne, an attorney for the Secretary of the State’s office, concluded that the charter printed in the newspaper had to reflect all of the issues on the ballot in November. Town Attorney David Grogins this week agreed and has ordered a new printing.

“What’s unfortunate is that it’s costing the town several thousand dollars more. In addition, a good portion of David Chipman’s fee was related to rewriting the charter, which was totally uncalled for. It was a waste of time and money,” noted Bill Sheluck, who was chairman of the now-disbanded Charter Revision Commission.

Mr Sheluck brought the omissions to the attention of the council last week, but not without some difficulty. Council Vice Chairman Melissa Pilchard presided over last week’s meeting and explained to Mr Sheluck that Mr Chipman’s conclusion said otherwise. Councilman Donald Studley suggested that the whole charter be reprinted. At one point, Mr Sheluck attempted to make a comment, prompting Mrs Pilchard to threaten to call the police.

“I think that was an outrageous display. I shouldn’t be treated that way,” Mr Sheluck said this week.

Tensions on the council have been high as a result of this particular Charter Revision Commission. Some members adamantly opposed the plan, while others favored it. One of the charter’s more ardent detractors, former chairman Pierre Rochman, abruptly resigned from the council following its decision to place the proposed changes on the November ballot.