Minutes of the public hearing of the Legislative Council held on Wednesday, August 22, 2007 in the Senior Center, Riverside Road, Sandy Hook, CT. Chairman Rodgers opened the hearing at 7:00 p.m.
PRESENT: William Rodgers, Timothy Holian, Daniel Amaral, Joseph Borst, David Brown, Jeffrey Capeci , Stacie Doyle, Keith Jacobs, Patricia Llodra, Francis Pennarola. ABSENT: Joseph DiCandido, Michael Iassogna,. ALSO PRESENT: First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal, Financial Director Benjamin Spragg, Board of Education Chairman Elaine McClure, members of the Charter Revision Committee, eight members of the public, James Gaston of the Board of Finance (7:20), two members of the press.
Mr. Rodgers read the legal notice for the public hearing which is to receive input from the public concerning two items: The possible enactment of an ordinance adopting a new codification of the Town of Newtown Charter, Special Acts and Ordinances and the recommendations of the Charter Review Committee for changes to the Town’s Charter.
Mr. Rodgers asked for comments from the public concerning the proposed ordinance.
Ruby Johnson, Chestnut Hill Road, asked if this is a housekeeping affair. Mr. Pennarola said that basically this is renumbering and there are no changes to the ordinances.
Mr. Rodgers asked for comments from the public concerning the proposed Charter Review Committee’s recommendations. He noted that this item will continue to the September 5 Legislative Council meeting.
Ruby Johnson, Chestnut Hill Road, said that item #13 concerning the surplus of the town and how it is managed is very open ended. There are checks and balances needed. Regarding the proposal that the Legislative Council can initiate appropriations up to $500,000 she feels that this is a large sum of money. The Charter Review Committee did not address the difficulty in getting people to run for office, especially the first selectman’s slot. She said the Charter Review Committee should have considered a move to a town manager type of government. Several people asked that the Board of Selectmen be expanded to five members. The Purchasing Authority of the Town is the First Selectman and one person should not have that much power. The Committee failed to establish a long range planning group; she asked that the
Legislative Council do this.
Jim Smith, 2 Littlebrook Lane, is concerned about the proposal to eliminate one voting district. The 112th district need coverage by itself and he feels we need at least three districts.
Ruby Johnson said that the public has been allowed to vote on each Charter Revision item separately and was never given a whole package.
Guy Howard, 4 Main Street, member of the Charter Review Committee, said that he considered oversight of the activities of the town to be a positive thing rather than just a watchdog. Review of town projects and groups such as the Fairfield Hills Authority could indicate whether a project will support town government or is a pet project of a group. He said that the other Charter Review Committee members felt that this was a punitive thing. He feels this would reinforce that we are doing the right thing.
Al Cramer, Chairman of the Charter Review Committee, said that a $500,000 appropriation by the Legislative Council would only represent ½ of 1% of the budget. He said this proposal is to try to limit the number of town meetings. He said the Committee did look at the manager/council vs. mayor/council form of government and decided that the present mayor/council form is best for the town.
LeReine Frampton, Charter Revision Committee member and registrar of voters, said that the proposed two voting districts would use two schools rather four used at present. The two districts would still have a separate place for the 112th district. Also voters would be able to vote for six members of the Legislative Council rather than four. Mr. Rodgers asked if voting would be in a different place in off year state elections, to which Mrs. Frampton replied that the voting places would remain the same.
Elaine McClure, Ashford Lane, Chairman of the Board of Education, said that the Board of Education supports an even number of members on the Board of Education. This even number has resulted in 4-2 votes which could be 4-3 with seven members. She is in favor of having no more than half of the members from one party.
Guy Howard- noted that there could still be a 3-2 vote plus one affiliated.
Joan Piscitelli, 5 Butternut Ridge Road, feels that someone on the Board of Education should not give an opinion about the number of members it should have. Does her opinion also count? Mr. Rodgers said he merely asked Mrs. McClure a question and your opinion is as good as hers.
Mr. Rodgers closed the public hearing at 7:30 p.m.
Ann M. Mazur, Clerk
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