At a public hearing on May 4, Clinton residents proposed revisions to the current town charter, which was last updated in December 2012. Consensus in the room was that the current charter is not only flawed, but also poorly understood.

“There’s nothing more important at the local level than our town charter,” said Phil Sengle, who proposed more than a dozen recommendations for the commission to consider.

A town’s charter is a legal document that establishes the municipality and defines, among other things, the way the town is organized and governed, how it handles public services and financial matters, and how its boards, commissions and committees operate. Connecticut law mandates that cities and towns review their charters every five years. Clinton’s town charter requires that the Board of Selectmen review the document at least once every five years and appoint a Charter Revision Commission to aid in the process.

The nine-member commission appointed on March 16, is chaired by James Staunton (R) and comprises Vice Chair Karen Marsden (U) and members Eric Bergman (U), Gary Bousquet (R), Dennis Donovan (R), Lynn Hidek (D), Art Kuever (D), Peter Nye (R), and Bradford Sullivan (D). Their task includes gathering public input, reviewing the existing charter, and drafting a report that includes any proposed amendments that will then go to a second public hearing and a townwide vote. Last week’s public hearing was the first step in that process.

One of Sengle’s recommendations called for giving town department heads the discretion to transfer modest sums of money in their own budgets—for example, amounts under $20,000—from one line item to another rather than requiring the approval of the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance.

“A budget is a plan and an estimate,” said Sengle. “A department head should manage the bottom line. If you don’t trust them to do that, you ought to get rid of them, frankly.”

Sengle and others also proposed term limits for those elected or appointed to boards, commissions, or committees, limiting both the length of a term and the number of consecutive terms served as a way of inducing turnover, breaking up concentrations of authority and alliances, and bringing in new ideas.

The challenge, most acknowledged, is getting more residents interested in assuming these roles and responsibilities. The commissioners and public also agreed on reducing the mandatory length of service for certain positions—for example, trimming the required six-year term for a Board of Finance alternate member to a more manageable four-year commitment. Several members of the public and commission inquired about moving to an odd-numbered, seven-member Board of Finance, however, Connecticut General Statutes require that a town’s board of finance comprise six members, with no more than four from the same party.

Other recommendations included formally authorizing the Police Department to manage the 9-1-1 Communications Center, which dispatches police, fire, and ambulance services (the responsibility currently rests with the Police Department, though that is not spelled out in the town charter); hiring a human resources manager for the town and engaging the services of a professional negotiator for town labor contracts; closing the loophole that allows the first selectman to choose certain supply and equipment vendors without opening it up to bids (as it stands, professional, engineering, and technical services can be excluded from bidding rules; how these service providers are classified is largely open to interpretation); establishing quorums, or a minimum voter turnout, to approve any single expenditure over $1 million rather than allowing those decisions to be made at town meetings, which critics pointed out are often poorly attended or may be “packed” with special interest groups; and strengthening ethics provisions to preclude individuals from serving on multiple boards where conflicts of interest could arise, such as serving simultaneously on the boards of Education, Finance, and Selectmen, or serving on the Police Commission, Board of Selectmen, Board of Education, or Board of Finance if any of an individual’s close relatives are employees of the town or Board of Education.

Other major ideas presented to the Charter Revision Commission included hiring a full-time town planner to work on projects and grants for Land Use, Planning and Zoning, the First Selectman’s office, and the Economic Development Commission, as well as investigating the possibility of a town manager form of government.

“We should have a professional to run the $50 million business that is Clinton,” said Sengle of the town manager proposal, adding that being governed by a first selectman means being dependent on “whoever is willing to run. This is a dwindling pool of people. Employers no longer offer a leave of absence to those who run and win, so this often leaves us with someone who needs a job, has delusions of grandeur, or is retired. This greatly reduces the talent pool and hurts Clinton.”

First Selectman Bruce Farmer noted that while he was campaigning for office, he had the opportunity to solicit feedback from Clinton residents about how they want to be governed.

“I was campaigning since July of last year,” he said. “I knocked on 1,511 doors and asked pointed questions about government transparency and communications. When I asked voters, ‘Are you in favor of having a town manager?’ 917 said absolutely not, 31 said yes, and 563 did not offer an opinion.”

Selectman Carol Walter asked about a provision in the new town charter establishing a fire commission—a motion that the Board of Selectmen approved in November 2015. The group would act as a liaison between the Fire Department and the town, much the way the Police Commission does. Walter said an ad hoc group of volunteers has been meeting regularly to discuss the idea and has looked into the types of fire commissions established by other towns. Initially, she said, they envision this as an advisory group, but eventually these would be elected officials.

“We’re actually pretty far along. We’re not reinventing the wheel. At this moment, we’re working on refining our plan, and our goal is to have it on the ballot in November,” Walter said.

Later discussion among Charter Revision Commission members, however, revealed that a November 2016 target date is unlikely given the breadth and scope of the charter revision process. Another way of establishing a Fire Commission, aside from a provision in the town’s charter, is by town ordinance; that approach, however, limits the Fire Commission’s role to an advisory group, which does not have the same authority as a body of elected officials.

Moving Forward

Following the public hearing, the commission met to discuss next steps.

“We’ve heard from a number of selectmen,” said Staunton, “and we’ve heard from the public. We’ve got at least a dozen or so proposed changes to the charter. After tonight, we are allowed to do substantive work and have it be part of our process. We have to formulate a game plan. “

“We have a document that has a lot of flaws in it and a lot of urban legends surrounding it,” said Bousquet. “There are two pieces to this. Our first priority is fixing what’s there and what’s clearly broken—deciding what to amend or throw out. Second is deciding what to add.”

The commission has 16 months from the date of their appointment to draft a report of proposed amendments to the charter, which must be filed with the town clerk in time for submission to Clinton voters at the next general election or a special election. The group voted to set a deadline of Jan. 11, 2017, for drafting the report, which would allow a vote on the revised town charter to take place during the May 2017 budget referendum.

The commission’s next meeting will take place in the Police Department Community Room on Wednesday, May 18, and the public is welcome to attend. A schedule of all subsequent meetings and their locations is posted to the town’s website www.clintonct.org.

“The first question I’ll ask at the next meeting,” said Staunton, “is, ‘Are there any items we want to cross off the list?’”

“The big question I see is the town manager,” said Marsden.