Council Slates Hearing On Charter Changes

By Steve Bigham

The Legislative Council will conduct a public hearing on the proposed changes to the town charter next Wednesday, July 11, at 7:30 pm at the multi-purpose center on Riverside Road.

The proposed changes to town government have been drawn up by the Charter Revision Commission, which spent about eight months studying the charter. By late spring, it had completed its work and passed its recommendations on to the council. The changes being proposed are significant. They include the elimination of the Board of Selectmen, the creation of a stronger first selectman (with veto power), and the formation of a Board of Finance to work with the council and first selectman on financial matters.

The charter panel’s draft report has since been submitted to the council, which by state statute is now required to hold a public hearing.

The council leadership, Chairman Pierre Rochman and Vice Chairman Melissa Pilchard, have been vocal in their opposition to the proposed changes, saying it weakens the current council, a board the two have served on for some 40 years combined. They also complain that the document simply suggests far too many changes to be implemented all at one time.

Still, the Charter Revision Commission stands by its recommendations, saying the changes address the needs of this growing community. Chairman Bill Sheluck has championed the proposed changes to Newtown’s government, leading the board and writing much of the draft himself.

That concerns Mr Rochman, who said he would feel more comfortable knowing an attorney had a hand in things.

The Legislative Council tried to hire an attorney to advise it on the charter last week, but failed to get enough votes to do so. The vote angered Mr Rochman, who stormed out of the meeting chambers.

Last week, Mr Rochman said he questioned whether the council would be able to complete its study of the proposed changes in time to put the questions on the November 6 ballot, should the council approve them. He had originally hoped to make the November 6 date, but said the depth of the proposed changes had put that in doubt.

Members of the Charter Revision Commission reserve the right to conduct a petition drive in order to get the questions on to the ballot if the council does not meet deadlines. However, they would have to do so as private citizens and not as town officials since the Charter Revision Commission ceases to exist as a board once it hands over its final report.

Mr Rochman said he does not anticipate a lot of people showing up for the hearing because “the process is not very user-friendly.”

“For the public to know what is being proposed, they would have to go to town hall and pay for copies of the draft report because it is so extensive. Most people are not going to go through all that work,” he said. “They won’t be educated enough on it. It’s a wasteful public hearing because the public will not be in any position to make any comments.”

The Charter Revision Commission’s final draft report is available in its entirety free of charge on The Bee’s Web site at www.NewtownBee.com. (Click on “Top Stories.”)

Mr Sheluck and other commission members have been seen shaking their heads in recent weeks as some council members, they claim, attempt to sabotage the proposal.

“What disturbs me is that we haven’t spent one minute discussing the issues, but a lot of time has been spent by the council to prevent the commission’s recommendations from reaching the voters,” Mr Sheluck said.

Last month, one council member suggested that the Charter Revision Commission might have been illegally formed by the council last fall, while another said the board’s job was incomplete. This week, Mr Rochman stated that the charter panel might have created a situation where the council is almost forced to say “no” to the whole thing “because everything is so interrelated.”

The chairman, however, indicated that he would rather not reject the entire report. “That would be totally unfair,” he said.

A total rejection would also guarantee a petition drive to get the questions on the ballot. “If the council says ‘no’ to everything then I would say with 99.9 percent certainty that we would petition for a referendum,” Mr Sheluck said, adding that tradeoffs and compromise are the best path for both parties to take. “It’s in everyone’s best interest to get before the people what we think is the best set of recommendations.”

The council has until July 26 to respond to the Charter Revision Commission, which then has 30 days to prepare a final draft report. Mr Sheluck said his board would only take two weeks, meaning it should have the report in the council’s hands by August 9. The council would then have until August 24 to render a final decision. If the decision ends up being total rejection, then Charter Revision Commission members as private citizens (or any registered Newtown resident) would have 13 days to gather up signatures from 10 percent of the town’s registered voters. If they succeed, then the proposed changes to town government would make their way onto the November 6 ballot.