Rodgers Discourages Charter Change Solely For FFH Authority

By John Voket

While discussions at a recent ad hoc Fairfield Hills Management Committee meeting focused on the possibility of seating two charter review committees, with the first exclusively charged with creating a legal management body or authority for the town-owned campus, Legislative Council Chairman William Rodgers said he was loathe to suggest such an endeavor.

“I’m really not in favor of convening a charter committee just for the Fairfield Hills question,” he said. “I don’t see that there is such a pressing need to address that question without also having the committee consider a bunch of other things.”

Mr Rodgers said he believes the Fairfield Hills Management Committee will be better served by establishing a short-term or permanent management authority through state legislation, not via a charter revision.

“I just don’t think a charter change is the best way to create a Fairfield Hills authority,” Mr Rodgers said.

He explained that the last time a charter revision came up regarding Fairfield Hills, it became a political issue. In addition, Mr Rodgers said the idea of charging a charter review committee with the task of establishing a management entity for Fairfield Hills has yet to be formally introduced and discussed by the entire council.

“Suggesting we give this kind of charge to the charter committee is really putting the cart before the horse,” he said. Mr Rodgers also said that that such a charge, along with any other responsibilities of the charter committee, need to have sufficient input from the public, whether it occurs during a special information session, during regular council or subcommittee meeting, or all of the above.

“Whether you call a workshop, or just bring input to the council during our meetings, the idea [to create an authority by charter] needs to be sufficiently advertised,” he said. “If the council is confident that several public forums were provided for input, it would go far toward proving we’re not doing an end run to avoid public input.”

Mr Rodgers suggested that the idea of creating an authority by charter might not be specifically slated as an agenda item, but would be fair game for public commentary if any charter issues were on the council agenda. He went on to say that the pending charter revision would likely be on the next general council agenda.

The council chairman also made room for the possibility that a charter review committee may not be seated immediately, in the event that the council failed to receive and qualify enough volunteers to staff at least a six-member panel.

“The issue could be whether or not there will be a charter review panel at all,” he said. “That would certainly tip things in favor of creating a state legislative act to establish a Fairfield Hills management authority, wouldn’t it?”

Ultimately, Mr Rodgers said that when and if a charter review committee is seated, he would want to see volunteers employed effectively.

“I would want them to be utilized to the fullest extent, and I would hope that would be any volunteer’s expectation,” he said. “And if we didn’t have to push a Fairfield Hills item through for consideration on the November ballot, the committee could, by statute, take up to 18 months to carefully consider everything.”

Newtown residents who may be interested in serving on the next charter revision committee only have a couple of days remaining to file their written intent to the Legislative Council. Mr Rodgers said Wednesday morning that he was looking forward to reviewing applicants’ cover letters and resumes in anticipation of presenting candidates before the full council, possibly as early as next Tuesday’s scheduled meeting.

“Applicants must file a written resume as well as a brief cover note explaining why they are interested in contributing to a charter revision,” Mr Rodgers said. “I’ve had several people express their interest to me verbally, but the entire council has to conduct qualification and confirmation proceedings for the candidates, and they can only consider candidates who file their intent to serve in writing.”

Mr Rodgers said that a charter review committee can have between six and 15 members, but he is lobbying for a smaller, rather than a larger, group for the tasks at hand.

“I sensed even before we called for applications, that most of the council members are thinking smaller is better,” Mr Rodgers said. “I think this time around, we’ll probably seek to seat a committee of between six and nine members.”