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12/11/2023 11:50 AMA preliminary draft of a proposed town charter would expand the town’s Board of Selectmen (BOS) and increase term length. The Chester Charter Commission reviewed a draft cover letter and its preliminary charter at a meeting on Dec. 6. The cover letter marks a significant step in the commission’s work to create a prescription for a new town government, which has included 29 sessions of drafting workshops, briefings, and meetings with town managers and administrators from numerous charter municipalities.
While the charter draft has been completed and outlines the administrative and legal functions of Chester’s potential new form of town government, work continues to ensure the document is finely tuned and prepared for review by the BOS.
“We finished the preliminary charter, so now, it’s not in stone, but it’s becoming formed,” commission head Richard Strauss told the other seven members.
The commission is determined to submit its preliminary charter and a finalized cover letter to the BOS by April 1, 2024, after which it will go to a public hearing. According to Strauss, the commission is “ahead of that schedule.”
“If the BOS makes no recommendations to the Commission following the Public Hearing(s) called by the BOS, the draft becomes the final report - including the cover memo and draft charter,” reads the cover letter.
It is after the finalization of all documents that the BOS would make its final decision to accept or reject the charter. In the latter situation, residents can petition that the charter be on the ballot on Election Day next year.
A heavy subject of discussion for the commission at the meeting was the nature of an expanded BOS and how it could boost political participation and benefit all voters.
Under a charter, the BOS would have seven members, each serving four-year terms. The expanded BOS would essentially merge with the Board of Finance to handle both legislative and fiscal responsibilities, providing the “opportunity for a wider range of expertise for assuming expanding responsibilities” and “encourages bipartisan decision-making and those other than majority party members engaged.” It would also give more time to selectmen to fill multiple vacancies and high turnover rates on boards and commissions, an overarching goal of the commission for making the town government more efficient.
“I see it more as a way to facilitate better discussion,” said Commissioner Ian McLachlan. “It’s going to get better just because it’s more effective.”
Town meetings would be preserved as a form of legislative authority for major action, including adopting new fiscal year budgets.
One of the topics examined was how to ensure an expanded BOS can own up to what is referred to as “the principle of minority political representation on boards of selectmen and certain other municipal bodies” per state statute. This requirement for charter governments relates to another of the commission’s overarching goals to foster greater public participation in municipal affairs.
The commission agreed that the maximum number of members per political party on the expanded BOS would be four. At the same time, other seats can be filled by selectmen of any other political affiliation, whether a member of a party or not. Not only would this encourage bipartisan decision-making, but it may foster more active election seasons.
With an expanded board, the commission is optimistic that the town's Democratic and Republican committees would be incentivized to nominate the best candidates to win up to four seats. Whichever party has the least selectmen on the board could still have up to three members, more than the current minority of just one person. More candidates mean more proactive residents in an election year.
“It goes back to participation,” said Commissioner Mark Borton.
The commission also wants to avoid any signs of voter suppression or disenfranchisement with greater representation of the minority on the BOS, sharing the major fiscal and legislative responsibilities and representing more greatly political minority perspectives in their decision-making.
The commission’s next meeting will be held on Monday, Dec. 18, and is open to the public. They will be joined by Town Attorney Richard Roberts, principally to hear his comments on the preliminary charter draft and cover letter. The commission is also looking to review the progress it has made on the “educational information” to explain to residents the reasons for the charter and what its change will mean.
All resources concerning the commission’s work can be found at www.chesterct.org/charter-commission.