The Charter Revision Commission on September 23 met with a number of town officials including Republican Registrar Erica Canfield and Democratic Registrar LeReine Frampton, Newtown Community Center Commission Chair Kinga Walsh, Board of Ethics Vice Chair Vincent Pietrorazio, Board of Education Chair Alison Plante, NECC Director Maureen Will, and five members of the public.

The conversation covered a number of topics, depending on the speaker.

Will spoke in support of a charge to combine the Board of Finance and Legislative Council review of the department head budgets.

"We should have the Board of Finance and the Legislative Council in one room when we have to come and talk about our budgets," said Will.

Will said by the time the budgets get to the council, which is third in line to review them, department heads "don't know what's going to get cut or not."

"It's not fair for us," said Will. "You don't know what I do, how I operate, or what I need."

Will said the process has changed how she does her budget, since she's not "asking for a lot of money" but for "continuity" with what she does.

Plante agreed, saying that combining BOF and LC reviews could make "one unified conversation” instead of "redundant conversations."

Walsh discussed the idea of term limits being capped at two, saying that it can be a good thing from some perspectives, having "historic knowledge and understanding the process" is important. She also expressed concerns on who would fill vacancies, saying even now the Community Center Commission does not always have a full board.

"Finding people who are qualified, engaged, and understand the process takes a lot of time," Walsh said.

Commission member Barney Molloy noted that difficulty in finding volunteers was a "recurring theme" in the discussion on the topic, and suggested maybe not term limits but limits on members holding the chairman position over multiple terms, so that it develops the "leadership team."

Commission member Aidan Music suggested that if finding volunteers was a problem, maybe the commission should be looking at removing unnecessary boards so there are fewer spots to fill.

Music wondered about getting younger residents, like 20-30 and 30-40 year olds, more involved, but it was noted that 20-30 year olds tend to have lower interest in government and 30-40 year olds are involved, but more in PTAs and youth sports than government positions.

Resident Dave Ackert sought to speak but was briefly stopped by acting Chair Herb Rosenthal, who asked Ackert to remove his hat.

Ackert refused, saying he hadn't showered and had been "driving for six hours."

Rosenthal felt it was impolite for Ackert to not remove his hat, but Music intervened on Ackert's behalf, asking Rosenthal to just let him speak.

"Fine, be rude then, speak," said Rosenthal to Ackert.

Ackert wondered if part of the problem with community engagement was "structural and not procedural." Ackert noted that in Norwalk, residents and commission members alike could attend Planning & Zoning Commission meetings 100% remotely, with some commission members even appearing on camera with young children.

"That could attract people under 40, by meeting them where they're at," said Ackert.

At the September 9 CRC meeting, the commission spoke with First Selectman Bruce Walczak and Finance Director Glenys Salas for a discussion of charge #7, moving line item revision authority to department heads, and charge #8, more authority to the first selectman and finance director to allocate funds between departments.

Molloy worried that the change could create a "more adversarial atmosphere," where "finances and record keeping indicate one thing, but when budgets closed out, actual amounts are different.” Molloy said the BOF has a half dozen public meetings regarding the budget, and they were not willy nilly, but detailed reviews. Some departments were not able to provide budgets/revenue vs expenditures when asked for them. That has historically been a problem, he said. Chairman Maureen Crick Owen noted not all departments are revenue-generating.

Salas said there are specific cases where something gets called out, but it is not advisable. She thinks the bottom line is looked at, department budgets are published, and they understand the LC is given detailed authority. There is a process to make an argument for an expenditure or surplus at the end of the year.

Commission member Tracey Pertoso said given the fact that everything is posted, including so much misinformation, she would like the people on the LC to work with that money as if it was coming out of their pockets. She said that there are people in town who are struggling with food and if they are going to struggle, they should see why. Her vote will always be for as much transparency as possible. She thinks it is owed to the residents of this town.

Commission member Herb Rosenthal agreed. He does not think this has been an issue in the past. People have always known what was in a budget, what was cut, and why. For Charge #9, restructuring Board of Selectmen paired with full-time executor or town manager, Walczak offered background on this proposal, saying there are a number of different structures that could be used, the most extreme model being a town manager with all department heads reporting to that person. The first selectman would then do more addressing of community groups, speeches, out-of-town items; they would not run the day-to-day operations of the town.

The amount of work and functionality is currently more work than one person can handle at a level of excellence that is expected, he said. The first selectman has little time to meet with and confer with 20-25 commissions, or the time to do personnel reviews; departments did not have objectives or strategies for the year. The first selectman is forced to make choices on where to spend time, ignoring areas that need time spent on them, he said.

Another issue, Walczak said, is it is potluck when the first selectman is elected on whether they have the skills and capabilities to manage the town. There is no Charter requirement on managerial skills. Newtown has been very lucky with its first selectmen to date, he said. The next first selectman position, if the right person is not elected, there is no backup person for that first selectman.

Molloy said another alternative is to put the question to a referendum. If talking a town administrator, that is an employee. Music said the next FS could just fire that person.

Walczak said there needs to be someone who offers continuity between each lead administrator. Walczak would not be in favor of having a ceremonial first selectman, and a town manager who runs everything, he said. Whatever the position is called, it needs to be two people, both full-time, one getting strategic work done and the other getting the day-to-day work done.

Calls from a constituent can sometimes take two or three hours to solve, Walczak said. He is not complaining about that, he said. There is just so much that is not getting done to represent Newtown in the county and the state, he said. Darien has a full time administrator, he said. Wilton does as well, others noted. This is a structure that is recognized by so many people.

Concerning Charge #10, allowing appointed board vacancies to be filled by any qualified resident, Walczak said fewer people are volunteering to be on boards and commissions, for multiple reasons. He is simply suggesting treating vacancies on appointed boards the same as a position that opens when someone concludes their term. Nothing should change on elected boards, he noted. He just wants to create a bigger pool of volunteers.

Molloy said this seemed like a no-brainer. “If there are people who are willing to serve, their party affiliation shouldn’t preclude them,” he said. Schwarz said parties can play a role if they want to; town commissions often have people ready to fill a role. Music asked about current vacancies. Walczak said he filled six recently and still has four to five waiting to be filled. It used to be two to three times a month, he said.

Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.