To the Editor:

The First Selectman recently appointed the members of a group to look into the idea of the Board of Selectmen hiring a Town Administrator to take over the day to day management of town government, a job currently done by the First Selectman.

Hiring a TA would not require changing the Town Charter, so long as the ultimate responsibility for the administration of the town stays with the First Selectman, a fact he learned when Wilton recently hired a TA without changing its Charter.

But naming a group to study the idea is not the thoughtful act of impartiality it appears to be. I believe the BOS has already made up its mind that it wants to hire a TA, and wants the group to provide the rationalization it needs.

This is clear from the town insiders the First Selectman named to the group, including current Selectman Owen, who has already said she likes the idea, and from his failure to name a member of the public, even after he said he would. Naming an outsider whose opinion may conflict with his own would be too risky.

It is also clear from the contrived reasons the BOS gave to justify the new position at its Nov 21 meeting. There was no meaningful discussion whether the town actually needs a $200,000 TA. Instead, Selectman Owen, for instance, actually read from comments written by others that a TA “would make management more professional” and “provide stability.”

What do these phrases mean?

Is our municipal government in any real danger of becoming unstable or being run unprofessionally if we don’t hire a TA, or is this “more of an outside chance than a reality”? To me it seems like fear mongering in an attempt to justify shifting the hard work of day to day management to someone else.

I have no doubt the First Selectman’s job can be difficult and requires a lot of time, and I do believe that the role is more complex and requires more knowledge than it has in the past. But the beauty of the selectmen form of government is its direct accountability to voters. We would lose that if the BOS hired a TA. With no direct way for residents to challenge the TA we would have to wait until the next election to vote for new selectmen. We can hold selectmen accountable; we can’t vote out a Town Administrator.

Instead of hiring a TA at the cost of $200,000, plus benefits, why not use some of that money to pay the First Selectman more to compensate him for the greater demands of the job, and to give the other two Selectmen a stipend for more responsibility? And why not lengthen the Selectmen’s term to four years, giving them more time to learn the job? The higher pay, shared burden and a longer term would also attract more candidates for First Selectman.

More importantly, the Board of Selectmen would remain directly accountable to residents.

Glen Swanson

Newtown