Date: Fri 15-Dec-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

charter-revision-Snyder

Full Text:

Snyder Elected Chairman Of Charter Revision Panel

B Y K AAREN V ALENTA

The commission which has been formed to review the town charter held its first

meeting in the Old Courtroom at Edmond Town Hall last week and, after three

tie votes, elected Michael Snyder as chairman by a toss of a coin.

Mae Schmidle, the other contender, became vice chairman.

"The ranking justice of the US Supreme Court in the 1920s was chosen by the

toss of a coin and that process is used in Congress when that body can't

decide on a chairman, so I don't think it's a frivolous way to break the tie,"

said David Chipman, a commission member who also had expressed interest in

becoming chairman.

A former four-term member of the Board of Selectmen, Mr Snyder also served on

Legislative Council, and currently is the president of the Newtown Chamber of

Commerce and on the Board of Directors of the Family Life Center. Mrs Schmidle

is a former state legislator and town clerk and also was the chairman of the

last charter revision commission.

Legislative Council appointed the 12-member Charter Revision Commission in

November and directed it to look into 18 possible areas of change in the

existing town charter. The commission includes six Republicans, five Democrats

and one unaffiliated member. Candidates were selected on the basis of resumes

and interviews conducted by a council subcommittee.

The commission members decided to meet every week from January through March,

alternating Tuesday and Thursday nights. Beginning April 4, the commission

will meet every other week on Thursday evenings.

Two Legislative Council members, Vice Chairman Melissa Pilchard and Joseph

Borst, chaired the first commission meeting until the chairman and vice

chairman were elected.

Mrs Pilchard read the list of charter items that the council had specifically

asked the commission to review, adding that the commission could recommend

that all, some or none be changed, and even could completely re-write the

charter.

"You have 16 months to study the charter and come back to council with your

report," she said. "You have a very specific schedule which is timed so you

will come back to the same council which gave you the charge."

Mrs Pilchard said the council would review changes proposed by the commission.

"The council does not have to accept anything," she said. "But if there is

something that you really want and the council doesn't accept it, you can

petition it out, although that is difficult."

The last Charter Review Commission proposed that the council be reduced from

18 to 12 members. The council didn't agree, but the commission petitioned for

the question to be put on the ballot. It was, and the voters approved the

change.

The council allocated $5,000 in the current budget for expenses of the

commission which must hire a clerk to keep records and an attorney to review

proposed charter changes.

The commission members also include Russell Melita of Budd Drive, a former

council member who is chairman of the Republican Town Committee; former

selectman Jim Smith; Steve Koch, a former Newtown resident who is temporarily

living in Southbury while building a house on Sugar Lane; Barbara O'Connor of

Little Brook Lane; former Board of Education member Ruby Johnson of Chestnut

Hill Road; Brandt Schneider, who holds a master's degree in public

administration; former Legislative Council member Stan Karpacz of Hyvue Drive;

David Chipman of Hunting Ridge Road, an attorney and former Board of Education

member; and attorney Ted Winokur of Sturges Road. Greg Bunger, a financial

analyst who lives on Cedar Hill Road, is the unaffiliated member.