The Charter Revision Commission at its June 10 meeting began a charge-by-charge review of the extensive list it has compiled, looking for items it is not interested in reviewing this session to pare down its list of charges a bit.

Following a review of 11 items, the commission eliminated two at the Wednesday meeting — changing appointment of Fire Commission members to the first selectman, and clarifying the eligibility criteria for the first selectman. The other nine items will move forward.

For the appointment of Fire Commission members, Commission member Dan Honan said the plan was always to not anger the firefighters.

Commission Chairman Maureen Crick Owen agreed, saying, "They are all volunteers, we shouldn't upset them."

Commission members worried about upsetting the volunteers since it would "cost a fortune" to switch to a paid fire department. Crick Owen said there is oversight by multiple boards, and it has been "working for years."

She took a tour of each volunteer company when she started as a selectman and she learned what goes into the trucks, and the companies, which is a lot.

Commission member Aidan Music felt the charge might at least be worth looking at, but after opposition from most of the rest of the commission, he joined in approving a unanimous motion to not move the charge forward.

For the eligibility criteria for first selectman, most members felt that the first selectman is already not allowed to have another full time job, and that's enough. Going after them if they may have a side gig or part time job was not deemed something to be added to the charter.

Items that will get further review include:

Changing the budget referendum timeline. Crick Owen felt it "wasn't a bad idea," and several members noted there were complaints from some parents that budget referendums tend to fall during spring break vacations when their families are away. The commission will consider moving the referendum to the fourth Saturday of the month instead of the fourth Tuesday. Crick Owen noted that Bethel, New Milford, and Brookfield made similar changes.

Commission member Peter Schwarz said it "couldn't hurt to try it as a five-year experiment" and that it currently is in a "bad week with school vacations."

Also moved on was updating the charter to include clearer language regarding the role and reporting structure of commissions.

Schwarz questioned what problem this was solving. Commission member Barney Molloy felt it was likely pointed at the budget process and how long it could take items to move through the Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance, and Legislative Council. He felt that clearer language on the role and reporting of commissions was "re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic" and that he was hoping to do something "a little more substantive."

Commission member Tracey Pertoso noted that there are "only so many" willing volunteers to go around the various commissions, and that the town should look at "getting a little more lean" instead of just trying to fill commission spots.

Commission member Aidan Music said the charge may be because the Ethics Commission "lacks teeth."

In the end, the commission decided to move the charge forward for further review.

The next charge they looked at was to consider merging duplicative appointed Town commissions or dissolving appointed commissions whose functions no longer meet the needs of the Town. Schwarz said this is already in the charter, citing the section. Molloy said the previous Charter Revision Commission cleaned out a lot of the redundancies.

During discussions of this item it was discovered that the commission had been given a large amount of charter booklets from 2016 and only a few had gotten the newer 2022 charters. Crick Owen said she would get members the newer charter as soon as possible.

Next, updating the charter to strengthen the Board of Ethics was discussed. Honan asked how often they meet, and Crick Owen said, "not a lot."

Molloy said the charter outlines a body that determines if a complaint against a member of a board is valid, and then turns their findings over to that board for any possible consequences. Schwarz said that any decision on what to do about ethics violations belongs with an elected board, not an appointed one like the Board of Ethics.

The next item was to require public comment to be listed on agendas for all boards and commissions. Crick Owen said she thought all commissions should have public comment.

She went through every board in the town and the list of those that do not have public comment on their agendas includes the Board of Assessment Appeals, Inland Wetlands Commission, Board of Ethics, Design Advisory, Hattertown Historic District, Lake Lillinonah Authority, and Board of Appeals. Some, like the Lake Lillinonah Authority, are the purview of multiple towns and would be outside the ability to require public comment.

Schwarz said Planning & Zoning recently added public comment to its agenda for every meeting. The chair of that commission, David Rosen, introduces that section during the meetings, including instruction for those planning to make comments on what they should and should not use that time for. Planning & Zoning pushes comments toward the public meeting section part of the meeting. This means policing the comments, but it also lets people feel like they can address a commission.

Molloy said this needs to be universal to all boards and commissions. Commission member Herb Rosenthal said public comment doesn’t happen a lot, but it should be offered.

The next item was to require meeting-related documents, agendas, minutes, and recordings (if available) to be accessible via the town website. Schwarz said this would be limited by technology and available money from the town. Crick Owen said if it is in the charter, then the onus is on the town to have the money. She suggested a "happy compromise," including the major boards but not all boards, which reduces the number from "20 to like five."

Molloy said "everything is electronic."

"If it's available to the board members electronically, there's no reason to not make it available to everyone else," said Molloy. "If it is being sent to board members two or three days ahead, it's not a heavy lift to also put it on the website."

The next was to clarify the selection process of auditor and audit approval procedures. Commission members noted that the wording in the current charter was ambiguous and should probably be looked at.

After that, they looked at updating the charter to gender neutral titles. Crick Owen said when she was on the Board of Selectmen she didn't care whether she was called a selectman, a selectwoman, or a selectperson. Rosenthal said the charter calls the top position first selectman, which former First Selectman Pat Llodra preferred.

They looked at removing ambiguous language. While Schwarz wondered what "the real ask is," Molloy said that it should be carried forward and the rest of the commission agreed. Commission member Will Drew said many books he has read now open with “for the sake of this book, we respect all genders, but for the sake of clarity, we will use this terminology.” Crick Owen and several other Commission members liked this language.

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