Following a 40-minute public hearing September 30 dominated by two local officials suggesting several late adjustments to Newtown’s constitutional document, the Charter Revision Commission initiated some of those changes and voted to send a final draft to the Legislative Council for its own hearing and review process.

The panel — Chairman Jeff Capeci, Vice Chair Robert Hall, and commissioners Kevin Burns, George Guidera, Tom Long, Eric Paradis, James Ritchie, Dan Wiedemann, and Deborra Zukowski — received kudos for their efforts, which included a charge to overhaul the entire document with a goal of making it more relevant and user-friendly for both Newtown’s citizens and the many local government agencies and policies serving them.

Council member Phil Carroll, Selectman James Gaston, and Commission On Aging Chairman Curt Symes all recognized the panel for its work.

“I’m impressed with the changes, and want to thank you for the hundreds of hours of work,” Mr Carroll said during the hearing. “It was plainly easy to read for me.”

Mr Symes came forward requesting changes to the charter “clarifying and quantifying language” related to his commission’s purview, as well as updating some terminology like the use of the words “elderly” and “aged.”

Mr Gaston came forward with a list of issues. Some he said were substantive, while others were more administrative.

Among his suggestions were to:

*Change several references in the charter referring to actions by “the first selectman with the support of the Board of Selectmen,” to simply reflect the entire Board of Selectmen;

*Adjust some of the references in the section related to town departments, which he believes opens up the town to certain liability exposures;

*Keep the Board of Finance on a two-year elected term instead of the proposed four-year term;

*Adjust a provision that refers to consultation between the first selectman and the council in the event of a budget failure to include the entire Board of Selectmen, versus current language that stipulates consultation with the first selectman and one member of the Board of Selectmen;

*Clarify which version of Robert’s Rules of Order are to be used by local boards and commissions;

*Codify minority party representation of the Board of Education from the present 5-2 split to a 4-3 split.

Two other attendees to the hearing, Democratic Registrar of Voters LeReine Frampton and resident Karen Holden, both advocated for the 4-3 school board party split as well.

Ms Frampton arrived bearing a facsimile sent to her at the end of a previous charter revision process from then council chairman Will Rodgers. That document, she said, affirmed an earlier endorsement to establish a 4-3 split. A state statute stipulating a two-person minority standard on a seven-member municipal board is, however, supported by a majority of current commissioners.

Following the hearing, commissioners convened a planned meeting to complete any final adjustments to the draft. Mr Capeci said that the panel was able to act on the advice or requests of some of the hearing participants.

He said in the case of requests by Mr Symes, commissioners were willing to make changes in the dated terminology. But, he said, any further substantive changes to the section related to the Commission on Aging would need to be considered by the council and sent back to the charter commission if that body found justification to make any further changes requested by Mr Symes.

“The commissioners were reluctant to make these more substantive changes this late in the game without understanding those changes or the impetus for requesting them,” Mr Capeci said. “Mr Symes needs to make his case to council, and if they agree it will give the charter commission more time to understand their full impact.”

BOE Makeup Remains

Mr Capeci said the commission had yet another extended conversation related to the 4-3 split on the school board, but in the end a majority of commissioners favored keeping that makeup intact.

 “At least two of the commissioners said the decision is a political one, and is best left up to the council to recommend if they decide to send the draft back for additional changes,” Mr Capeci said. “It’s possible that if the council makes the recommendation, several members [of the charter commission] could change their mind and support the 5-2 makeup.”

Regarding the raft of changes requested by Mr Gaston, Mr Capeci said the panel located ten areas where the “first selectman with support of the board” references were made.

“The feeling was those powers should not be given to one person,” Mr Capeci related, “so we made those [suggested] changes.”

Mr Capeci said he wanted to send the concern about the definition of town departments back to the town attorney for review, to determine whether that language could narrowly expose the town to certain liabilities.

Regarding the concern about the version of Robert’s Rules, Mr Capeci said commissioners included language referencing the latest available version as the edition being used locally. The commission also ultimately decided to suggest keeping the four-year term for elected finance board members, serving in staggered terms.

In the event of a failed budget, charter commissioners determined that the council would confer with the first selectman and any members of the board in a public meeting, so the provision referring to the first selectman and one member of the board of selectmen had no substantive relevance.

Mr Capeci said in the next few days, some other administrative and nonsubstantive changes would be made to the draft. The draft will then be delivered to the town clerk to pass on to the council.

Once the draft goes to the town clerk, Mr Capeci said there is a maximum 45-day period during which the council must hold a public hearing on proposed revisions. When that hearing is complete, the council has another 15 days to act on proposed revisions.

Another series of timeframes goes into effect if the council decides to send the draft back for other suggested changes. Mr Capeci said he plans to have the draft in the town clerk’s hands sometime next week.