The Wethersfield Charter Revision Commission held a meeting on October 21, 2003, in the Town Manager's Conference Room at the Town Hall. The meeting began at 7:00 p.m.
Agenda Item #1: Roll Call
The following individual(s) were present:
| Chairperson | Geraldine Munroe |
|---|---|
| Vice Chair | Christopher Healy |
| Commission Member(s) | Daniel Camilliere, David Herold, Gerri Roberts (7:40 p.m.), and Leigh Standish |
| Intern | Rick LeBorious |
| Recording Secretary | Chantel Teti |
The following individual(s) were absent:
| Commission Member(s) | Dorcas McHugh |
|---|
Agenda Item #2: Adoption of the September 16, 2003 Public Hearing Minutes; Discussion of October 7, 2003 Meeting Notes
Vice Chair Healy motioned to adopt the minutes from the September 16, 2003 Public Hearing as submitted. Leigh Standish seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Quorum for the October 7 meeting was not met so formal minutes were not published, however, the Commission Members discussed the following comments made at that meeting:
Chapter I - No revision.
Rename Registrar of Voters Office to the Elections Division.
Considerable discussion took place regarding the length of time between swearing in for newly elected officials and when they actually took office. The following recommendations/ considerations were made:
Healy - Mentioned that some towns hold a special ceremony at noon the day following the election to swear in new officials at the Town Clerk's office. He noted that this handles the transition in an expeditious manner so new officials can begin to operate without losing valuable time. Eliminates "lame ducks".
Munroe - Agreed that it was necessary to shorten the period between election and when electees take over.
Standish/Camilliere - Recommended a ceremony at the first Town Council Meeting after the election to swear in new officials. This would allow departing officials the opportunity to make any statements while "passing the baton".
LeBorious - Stated concerns with swearing in officials at noon the following day due to time constraints for certifications, potential re-counts and proclamations.
It was agreed by all that the first Monday following the election would be the most appropriate timeframe to swear in new officials. Rick will provide a write-up for this section.
The Commission Members agreed this item would require a full board vote after Members McHugh and Roberts had a chance to review all comments.
Agenda Item #3: General Comments from the Public
George Ruhe, 956 Cloverdale Circle
George stated that the Taxpayers see the Charter Revision Commission as the number one priority. He feels the terms of office for the Board of Education needs to be addressed. The Taxpayers Association would like two opportunities to provide input into the Charter revision process - once early on and also at the end of the process, prior to completion.
Edward Kardas, 850 Cloverdale Circle
Ed read the following comments to the Commission.
Agenda Item #4: Review of Wethersfield Town Charter - Chapter IIIThese are the four observations read or otherwise addressed at the CRC Meeting of October 21, 2003
(Note: Below is a "cut-'n'-paste" of the material used at the above CRC meeting; other observation related to Chapter II and III, not presented at t&he Meeting, will follow as a separate e-mail transmission.)
Observation 1: This item addresses Chapter 1 of the current Charter and "Item (8) A set of two-year goals for the Town Council & BOE" of the Public Comments made on 9-16-2003:
1.1 If local govenmental problems exist, last evening provided examples, which might best be illustrated by one simple phrase, "a lack of continuity." Yes, both a vision and mission statements have been estabablished for the Town and School systems, but we do not yet have continuity between outgoing and incoming legislative bodies in their implementation.
1.2 Monday evening, both the Public and Council addressed "cleaning-up" the Wethersfield Cove*.
1.3 During the public commentary portion of the Meeting, various Cove clean-up dates where mentioned, including 1917, 1934 and 1997.
1.4 The number of years between 1997 and 1917 is 80-years.
1.5 Assuming that the terms of office for Councils and Boards of Selectmen of the past, was two years, means that 40-Councils/Boards may have been exposed to the need for cleaning-up the Cove. And, yet a final plan for cleaning-up the Cove remains.
1.6 Today, we have a variety of documents intended to provide direction to our legislative bodies-Town Council and Board of Education, but not a single document provides a composite plan of goals encompassing the whole lot.
1.7 For example -- to name the more obvious -- today we have: the"2000 Plan of Conservation & Development"; the "Town of Wethersfield Strategic Plan" of August 21, 1&995; the "Town of Wethersfield 2002 Technology Implementation Plan"; the Wethersfield Board of Education's "School Facilities Master Plan" of 2001, a "Technology Plan" of 2000 and "Ten Year Capital Improvement Plan" of 2001; as well as other plans involving the Planning and Zoning Commission; Historic District Commission; Town Planner; Economic Development & Improvement Commission; and 5-and-10 year plans of both Town and School Administrations.
1.8 The point is that a "mechanism" addressing major issues is needed to provide "continuity" between the outgoing elected legislative bodies and the incoming elected legislative bodies -- Town Council and Board of Education -- that also provides for their handling over the long term while including sets of two year goals for immediate implementation as new Councils and Boards are elected.
1.9 Reflectively, it is proposed that this Charter Commission identify and establish a provision in "Chapter I, Incorporation and Powers," that provides for both a long and short term sets of goals for the Town and an implementation process for the legislative bodies, that grows the qaulity of life meaningfully through a suitable level of continuity that is not over looked or ignored.
1.10 Here are some proposed words for your consideration: "Section: 104 Goals. The elected legislative body, the Town Council, shall provide for establishment by ordinance a single commission with the duty and power to establish a Composite 10-Year Plan of Goals for the Town, with two year segments consisting of Goals to be implemented upon inauguration by each legislative body -- Town Council and Board of Education -- during its term of office, and is updated by the Commission in preparation for each subsequent term of the legislative bodies." (This introductory Section would be supplemented with detail coverage of the new Commission in Chapter V, Officers and Boards.)
1.11 A final note: My comments todays and at the Public Hearing thus fare are intended to provide for the continuity of "Town Goals" betweem the outgoing and incoming legislative bodies. ek/10-22-03
*Note: Other current examples: (i) Economic develop; (ii) Beautification of the Silas Deane Highway; (iii) Refurbishing of the athletic fields at the high school; (iv) Combining functions common to the Town and School systems; (v) Refurbishment of Town owned capital assets; and (vi) Improvements to Mill Woods and Cove Parks
Observation 2: This items addresses Chapter II, Section 202 Elective officers of the current Charter and see content of the Avon and Rocky Hill Charters for examples.
(Note: Undelined words represent additions while strikethrough words represent deletions).
2.1 Here is a proposed revision for your consideration: "Section: 202. Elected officers. At each town election, there shall be chosen nine (9) members of the Town Council and members of the Board of Education as well as the seven (7) members of the Composite 10-year Plan of Goals Commission**, as hereinafter provided. Two (2) Registrars of Voters shall be elected as provided by the General Statutes***
2.2 Why: The shorter answer is to expand the sources of experiences; and, the longer answer:
- To recognize that the other positions in Town governance are of equal importance to the Registrar of Voters and that the Town Council is capable of discerning proper representation in the positions of Registrar of Voters.
- Through the inclusion of the "Membership of the Composite 10-year Plan of Goals Commission**" as elected representation, a greater source of knowledgeable, capable and experienced nominates will be become available for the Town Council.
- An expansion to one or more elected bodies will not only serve as sources for future Town Council candidates, but should become a "draw" that should grow our base of volunteers.
- An expansion will also portray that our local government is a "government composed of the People" geared to maximize meaningful participation of the local citizenry.
**Note: Other positions in Wethersfield warrant consideration too; e.g., "Item (5) An Ombudsman System to resolve significant differences between Groups of Citizens and the Town Council & BOE" of the Public Comments made on 9-16-2003; also, see elected positions in charters of other towns.
***Note: "State Statute Sec. 9-185. Municipal officers. Unless otherwise provided by special act or charter, assessors, members of boards of assessment appeals, selectmen, town clerks, town treasurers, collectors of taxes, constables, registrars of voters, members of boards of education and library directors shall be elected, provided any town may, by ordinance, provide for the appointment, by its chief executive authority, of (1) a constable or constables in lieu of constables to be elected under section 9-200 or (2) a town clerk, town treasurer or collector of taxes in lieu of the election of such officers as provided in section 9-189. Unless otherwise provided by special act or charter, all other town officers shall be appointed as provided by law and, if no other provision for their appointment is made by law, then by (A) the chief executive officer of such municipality, or (B) where the legislative body is a town meeting, by the board of selectmen, or (C) by such other appointing authority as a town may by ordinance provide, and except that, if a board of finance is established under the provisions of section 7-340, the members thereof shall be elected as provided in section 9-202 and except that assessors may be elected or appointed under the provisions of section 9-198. Any town may, by a vote of its legislative body, determine the number of its officers and prescribe the mode by which they shall be voted for at subsequent elections."
Observation 3: This items addresses Chapter II, Section 203, Terms of elective officers of the current Charter.
(Note: Undelined words represent additions while strikethrough words represent deletions).
3.1 Here is a proposed revision for your consideration: 203 Terms of elective officers. The terms of all officers elected at the town election, except members of the Board of Education and Registrars of Voters, shall be two (2) years from the fourth Monday in November, in each odd-numbered year. In no case shall the term of any elective officer expire until the election and qualification of his successor.
3.2 Why: The shorter answer is to recognize the importance of the Town Council; and, the longer answer is:
- To recognize that the power and duty of the Town Council is of primary importance in governance of the Town, and does not have overlapping terms of office.
- To also recognize that continuity between successive elected generations of legislative bodies is basically provided by a combination of their respective Administrations and incumbents.
- To reflect the proposed Section 202 revision, above, that identified the Registrars of Voters becoming an appointed position.
Observation 4: This items addresses Chapter II, Section 204, "Minority representation" of the current Charter and "Item (7) A non-partisan electoral process" of the Public Comments made on 9-16-2003.
4.1 It is proposed for your consideration that the current words of Section 204 be deleted; namely,"Minority representation. At the town election, no political party shall nominate and no elector shall vote for more than six (6) members of the Council. No political party shall nominate and no elector shall vote for more members of the Board of Education than is provided for under the provisions of the General Statutes." and the following words be substituted, "Electoral nomination and minority representation. No segregation by political party shall identify nominates for the nine (9) members representation on legislative bodies and no elector shall vote for more than nine (9) nominates. Where the Vote Registration identifies that more than six (6) voted nominates are registered to a common political party, the remaining three (3) nominate positions shall be a minority representation, selected from nominates registered with either another political party or the unaffiliated with a political party, or both, and receive the greatest number of votes; if any of the three (3) nominates also have a Voter Registration common with the six (6) nominates receiving the greatest number of votes and there are not three (3) other nominate affiliations, the 7, 8 and 9 positions are to be filled from the remaining common political party nominates in the order of the greatest number of votes received. Correlatively, the elected bodies that have seven (7) members, are to have a 5-majority to 2-minority level of minority representation, selected consistent with requirements for nine (9) member representation selection."
4.2 Why: The shorter answer is the lack of non-partisanship; and, the longer answer is:
- "No-show-voters" in our political process is yet considered the most serious problem facing our "democratic system of governance."
- Currently, Wethersfield's Voter Registration is about 39% Democratic; 38% Unaffiliated; and 23% Republican; with about 50% of the Electorate swing voters.
- While any number of factors contributes to there being "no-show-voters" and unless the elected representation has "the weave" of partnering with the Community, voters are likely to continue to feel disenfranchised.
- Non-partisan elections on-the-other-hand are likely to produce: (i) a broader choice of candidates; (ii) candidates more receptive to Public participation; (iii) candidates willing to open the door to the pros-and-cons influencing the resolution of local issues; and (iv) candidates are likely to be open to changes in "legislative body procedures" that will encourage both directly and indirectly are fuller level of citizen participation.
- Correlatively, local elections indicate that swing voters tend to vote on: (a) the merits of candidates; (b) dissatisfaction with the performances of the controlling majority political party (e.g., the election of a Republican Party major to the TC and BOE in 2001); and (c) Public participation, exposure and merits of solutions prior to the vote on Referendum Questions.
Cut-'n'-paste of 10-24-2003
Healy - Has concern with council member being unable to be appointed or elected to another office.
Roberts - Suggested expanding language as follows (comments added in bold type):
During the term for which elected, no member of the Council or Board of Education, shall hold any other Town office, elective or appointive, or employment in or under the town government.
Standish - Disagreed with Town Manager's suggestion that resolutions should not be automatically held over for a public hearing. Healy, Roberts and Munroe agree with Standish.
Standish - Need to define requirements for publication of Public Hearings, ordinances and resolutions.
Healy - Expressed concern with micromanaging a Town through a Charter (ordinances vs. resolutions). Could language be developed to differentiate between what needs a Public Hearing vs. what could be decided by the Town Council?
Standish - The current process is inconvenient, but it is still working. Would rather leave as is and err on the side of caution.
Standish - Suggested raising the appropriation level.
Healy - Suggested raising the percentage of voters to meet threshold. Also, questioned whether the $75,000 is appropriate given the size of the budget. Could constrict proper services to the Town in an emergency situation.
Rick will research what the average referendum election will cost, factoring in advertising, poll workers, machine costs, etc.
Rick will ask the Town Manager how many times emergencies have come up over the past 3-5 years and what the average expenditure was over budget.
Healy - Need a method to determine when to remove members and a documented process for their removal.
Standish - Put in place a trigger mechanism to initiate removal process. May remove for absences but don't have to remove member - removal up to discretion of Council.
Rick will get language from other Charters.
Vice Chair Healy felt since the Town has a Town Manager form of government, with checks by the Town Council, that the referendum is less of an issue. The Town Council is closer to the people. He felt 5% is too low a threshold for the annual budget to trigger a referendum.
Standish - Err on the side of empowering the electorate. Budget referendum should be discussed between Charter Revision Commission members more thoroughly in a subsequent meeting. He suggested extending the timeframe from 10 days to petition and collect 5% of the voters' signatures. He felt 21 days was a more realistic timeframe.
Munroe - Asked Rick to find a speaker with a background on budget referendums. She suggested we also look at other Towns with a Town Manager form of government.
Agenda Item #5: Miscellaneous
It was discussed that the Recording Secretary, when possible, will distribute (via e-mail or hardcopy) the agenda and any pertinent documents required for the meeting. The timeframe of the Thursday prior to the Commission Meeting was suggested.
Rick LeBorious has set up a separate e-mail account for the public to send their comments on upcoming sections of the Charter prior to the meetings where that section will be discussed. The address is wethchartrev@aol.com.
Agenda Item #6: Adjournment
Vice Chair Healy motioned to adjourn. Commission member Herold seconded. The motion was passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:45.
Respectfully submitted,
Dorcas McHugh
Secretary
Approved as amended November 19, 2003