Minutes of the Charter Revision Commission Meeting held on Tuesday March 27, 2007 in the Old Court Room at Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street, Newtown, CT.
PRESENT: Al Cramer, Guy Howard, Joan Plouffe, LeReine Frampton, Joe Hemingway, Board of Education member Lisa Schwartz, Board of Education member Paul Mangiafico, Superintendent of Schools Evan Pitkoff, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Ed Marks, two members of the public, one member of the press.
ABSENT: Carolyn Signorelli
Chairman Al Cramer called the meeting to order at 7:00PM.
ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: Upon motion of Ms. Frampton, the minutes of the regular meeting on 3/13/07 were unanimously accepted as presented.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION:
1. Ruby Johnson – Chestnut Hill Rd. believes that the budget process must be run more smoothly. Ms. Johnson presented the commissioners with a prepared statement accompanied by supporting documentation regarding Fairfield Hills (attachment A).
2. Po Murray – Charter Ridge Drive feels that town residents do not currently have a say in Fairfield Hills and that the master plan is being implemented without the thoughts and needs of the entire town. Ms. Murray feels that the budget process needs to be shortened and disagrees with having a defeated budget returned to the Board of Finance. She thinks that there are too many layers of government and that the Board of Finance has no accountability and the Legislative Council has become a rubberstamping group. Ms. Murray would support adding language
to the Charter to guide unaffiliated candidates and would also like to see advisory questions on ballots so that officials can make decisions based on the ballot answers.
3. Board of Education member Lisa Schwartz supports checks and balances in government but sees redundancies in the budgetary process. She feels that there are too many meetings for the public to stay involved and would support combining the 2 public hearings into 1. As the presiding fiscal authority, a defeated budget should be the responsibility of the Legislative Council and not the Board of Finance. Ms. Schwartz believes that the Fairfield Hills Authority needs to be elected because appointments can lead to political maneuverings and conflicts of
interest. She supports any additions to assist unaffiliated voters noting that few taxpayers are aware that they can run for offices without party support and that the majority of the electorate is unaffiliated and must have a voice in town government.
4. Superintendent of Schools Evan Pitkoff does not support starting the budget process sooner because the initial budget submission date is what triggers the arbitration timeline and Newtown is already one of the earlier districts in the State. He also emphasized that the process should not end any later than it currently does as the longer it takes to pass the budget, the smaller the talent pool for new hires becomes. Mr. Pitkoff does not support sending a defeated budget back to the Board of Finance.
5. Board of Education member Paul Mangiafico feels that the Board of Finance performs a valuable function for the town but would not support sending a defeated budget to them as they are an advisory group and the Legislative Council is the financial authority for the town. He supports adding language to the Charter specifying how unaffiliated voters can run. Mr. Mangiafico would like to see advisory questions on the ballot so that the Legislative Council can see why a budget was defeated and make appropriate changes.
6. Parks and Recreation Commissioner Ed Marks advised the commissioners to change the Charter to allow for the Parks and Recreation Commission without specifying the number of members. He noted that the responsibilities of the group has grown and the size of it may need to change in the future. He feels that it should be addressed through ordinances rather than the Charter to allow for flexibility.
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
Review all prescribed time periods, particularly those associated with the budget process and referenda, to make certain that the same work efficiently? Should defeated Town Budgets be returned to the Board of Finance for review and then forwarded to the Legislative Council? Discussion and vote.
a. Budget Timeline-The commissioners explored numerous alternatives to improve the budget process. The commissioners generally agreed that the public hearings before both the Board of Finance and the Legislative Council could be combined into one, possibly shortening the process by two weeks. Mr. Howard felt that the commission should work backwards with a target date and have discussions with officials involved in the process and explore where time can be cut. Mr. Cramer requested that the commissioners explore timelines for the process for the next
meeting.
b. Defeated Budget returned to Board of Finance-Mr. Howard and Ms. Plouffe were opposed to having a defeated budget returned to the Board of Finance. Since the Legislative Council is the financial authority for the town and they put the budget out to vote, they should have the responsibility of revision. Mr. Cramer supports a jointly attended Board of Finance and Legislative Council meeting with the Legislative Council having full voting power. Ms. Frampton and Mr. Hemingway felt that the Board of Finance should have an impact on the defeated budget because
the Board of finance can offer more objectivity. The issue was tabled until the next meeting.
NEXT MEETING: The next meeting will be held on Tuesday April 10, 2007 in the Old Courtroom at Edmond Town Hall.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Ruby Johnson noted that in 1995 when Fairfield Hills was closed, the buildings were in usable condition. After years of deterioration, she feels that the property should be turned over to Parks and Recreation and the remaining funds for the project should be utilized to demolish the buildings.
Po Murray feels that the Board of Finance and Legislative Council are in a power struggle and performing similar functions. She added that the Legislative Council is not providing oversight.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business Mr. Cramer adjourned the meeting at 9:05 PM.
Patrick Kelley, Clerk
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