This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.

Madison Government Change Up to Voters

Voters this November will have the final say on whether Madison’s town government will be changed. Most notable among the possible changes are the move to an Extended Town Meeting intended to increase voter participation, and the employment of a professional town manager to serve as the town’s Chief Operating Officer (a role currently held by the first selectman).

After a lengthy review process, the Charter Review Committee (CRC) proposed the changes to current town government procedure (the full charter can be reviewed at www.madisonct.org). The Board of Selectmen approved putting the change up to a vote this November by a 3-2 vote. The discussion at the June 8 board meeting indicated that approving putting the measure before the voters wasn’t necessarily an approval of the charter revisions.

First Selectman Fillmore McPherson stated that the Charter Review Committee did an extraordinary amount of work and came up with many good changes and revisions. However, there was one change which he was not in favor of and that was for the Extended Town Meeting (ETM) procedures.

ETM was proposed by the CRC to address low voter turnout. The town currently requires a quorum of 75 voters present to vote on measures; that quorum has rarely been met in recent years and critics note that when it has it has often been through heavy participation of town employees who might benefit from a positive vote. ETM would allow voters to vote at the town meeting or within four days at the town clerk’s office.

According to the meeting minutes, McPherson stated that no town in the state has an ETM procedure and that this new procedure will be an added expense to the town and may introduce a paralysis of government. He stated that voting was not something the town was heavily involved in, for instance, at the 2014 Budget Referendum only 7.6 percent of voters turned out and at the 2015 Budget Referendum only 11 percent of voters turned out. He again cautioned that the ETM procedure was untried and unneeded.

Selectman Robert Hale stated he did like the details of the ETM, but felt they should be in ordinance and not in the charter as the charter is very difficult to revise. He also stated that the quorum for Town Meeting should be changed to reflect the process of the ETM.

Selectman Joan Walker stated that this item was brought back to the CRC and it was the unanimous vote of the members (less selectmen Walker and Diane Stadterman) to keep the language in the charter as discussions with the secretary of the state’s office indicated that the details should be kept in the charter.

Selectman Al Goldberg stated that the board members should be voting on the process of the charter revision and to leave the final decision to the voters to decide whether the details are agreed to.

The measure will appear on the general election ballot on Nov. 3.