Charter Panel Gets

A Quick Start

By John Voket

Former Newtown High School Principal Al Cramer undoubtedly handed out thousands of homework assignments in his tenure as an educator, but none may have as much impact to the community as the few he doled out last Monday. Mr Cramer was among six residents who were sworn in to serve as Newtown’s new Charter Revision Commission, and he was subsequently and unanimously elected as the panel’s chairman.

In a brief ceremony at 7 pm June 26, Town Clerk Cynthia Simon administered the oath of office to Mr Cramer, who is serving on his second charter commission. He was joined by fellow appointees Guy Howard, Joan Plouffe, Carolyn Signorelli, LeReine Frampton, and Joseph Hemingway.

Once the official ceremonial task was completed, the group sat down with Ms Simon and acting Legislative Council Chairman Timothy Holian to discuss logistics, determine meeting schedules and to elect officers. While Ms Frampton, who also is one of two elected Registrars of Voters, was quick to nominate Mr Cramer as chairman, Ms Signorelli said she wanted the members to briefly take turns talking about themselves, so she could have a better idea who she was endorsing and serving beside.

For about ten minutes, the new charter panel members each provided brief synopses of their backgrounds and why they had tendered their applications to serve. Ms Signorelli started the process by telling her associates that she was an attorney working for the state.

She has three children in the local school system, remains active in the local Rotary chapter, and served as secretary for the Republican Town Committee for two years. While she did not mention it at the meeting, her husband, Chuck Stofko, was recently elected as chairman of the RTC.

Ms Plouffe said she is a retired attorney and mother who works in the executive council of the Head O’ Meadow PTA. She is also active with the newly formed Culture and Arts Commission.

Mr Howard said he is a financial advisor whose wife is a teacher at Head O’ Meadow School. He said recent advancements in his job have allowed him to devote some time to public service, and he felt he could contribute to the community by agreeing to serve on the Charter Commission.

Mr Hemingway is a former Legislative Councilman and currently serves on the Economic Development Commission. He was the former president of the local PTA Council, and as a former Charter Revision Commissioner, he said he wanted to “…see things finished that were started in the last charter revision cycle.”

Ms Frampton told her fellow charter commissioners that she has lived in town since sixth grade, serves in her elected capacity, and was eager to work on the charter revision because so many aspects of the document have direct impact on her office and virtually everyone in the community.

“As the registrar, I get a lot of complaints from people who seek me out at the polls the during referendum and elections,” she said, adding that she also brought a wide range of resources from other towns and the Secretary of the State’s office, which oversees voting and election matters statewide.

Mr Cramer discussed his 20-year career with the local school system, as well as his service during former charter revisions, on one of the recent Fairfield Hills planning committees, and the Connecticut Association of Schools. He drives for Meals on Wheels, is active with the Newtown Forest Association, and said he was personally recruited by Councilman Joseph Borst, who hoped to see his leadership on this newly formed charter panel.

Once everyone was finished, Mr Holian called for the vote and Mr Cramer was unanimously elected as chairman. The nomination and unanimous endorsement for vice -chairman went to Mr Hemingway.

Mr Cramer wasted no time turning to his fellow charter commissioners and recommending weekly Tuesday meetings be held from 7 to 9 pm. The group set July 11 for the next meeting, and Mr Cramer said he would immediately begin inviting guests in to receive input and discuss the specific impact revisions might have on entities like the town finance director, the first selectman, the school superintendent, the council chair, and other “expert guests.”

The charter chairman called for volunteers for two key resource positions on the panel; one to specifically concentrate “on checks and balances,” and the other to pay specific attention to “dates and timelines,” as they appear in, and relate to, the constitutional document. Ms Frampton proceeded to volunteer for the latter, saying she was already familiar with many of the date and time related components through her work as registrar.

The group agreed to first endorse certain suggested revisions by consensus, and then return to the issues at a later time to conduct formal voting on recommendations. Mr Cramer then assigned each panel member “homework.”

“I want you all to go through every page of the charter so you know it thoroughly. Check out the duties of the first selectman, and the Legislative Council,” he said. Mr Cramer also asked the commissioners to review charges assigned by the council, and rank them in order of importance so they could formulate an appropriate “plan of attack,” for future meetings.

The group decided to offer public participation opportunities at the beginning and end of each meeting. The new chairman then called for an adjournment, but not before imparting a few words of wisdom: “Remember, as you go through this process, change is good, but it’s not always right. So, are we off and running?

“Don’t forget, our responsibility is to work for the best interests of the town,” he concluded. “So I expect you all to come back and make a lot of recommendations.”