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Charter Panel To Hear Town Clerk

Cindy Curtis Simon has already spoken in favor of keeping the position of town

clerk elected rather than appointed, but she wants to make sure the Charter

Revision Commission heard her clearly.

Mrs Simon, Newtown's town clerk since the mid 1980s, was expected to attend

Thursday's Charter Revision Commission meeting to further discuss the issue.

Recent conversations between charter revisionists indicate some may be in

favor of an appointed town clerk.

The commission was expected to vote on the issue Thursday night.

Mrs Simon feels strongly that the town clerk remain independent from the Board

of Selectmen. As she points out, stripping the town clerk's elective status

would transform what has traditionally been a non-partisan office into one

that could be subject to political concerns.

Of the 169 towns in the state, only 32 of them appoint their town clerks.

In the past 25 years, Newtown has had just three town clerks: Mae Schmidle,

Betty Smith and Cindy Curtis Simon.