Ellington Selectmen Split Over Midterm Committee Shake-Up

ELLINGTON, CT — A midterm reshuffling of committee assignments divided Ellington’s Board of Selectmen, with three members questioning whether the change was permitted under the town charter.

Selectmen voted 4-3 on Sept. 14 to approve new committee, liaison and representative assignments following Lori Spielman’s appointment to the board last month.

First Selectman Laurie Burstein said the arrival of a new member created a need to revisit the assignments and place members in positions that better suited them, according to the meeting minutes.

Selectmen Jamison Boucher, James Prichard and Spielman opposed the changes. Burstein, Deputy First Selectman Mary Cardin and Selectmen Charlotte Ward and Su Thanvanthri voted in favor.

Boucher questioned why the board was conducting a broader reorganization instead of simply filling positions that became vacant when David Stavens left the board. He said committee assignments have historically been established during the organizational meeting held after municipal elections.

When a previous vacancy was filled several years ago, the incoming member was assigned to open positions without other members being moved, Boucher said.

The proposed changes removed Boucher from two committees while adding him to another. Burstein said she was trying to distribute the assignments more evenly among the board’s seven members.

Prichard said Boucher had reason to object because he was being removed from committees where he had experience. He also noted that the changes affected the Personnel Committee even though no vacancy had opened there.

Spielman suggested delaying the decision until the board could obtain clarification about the proper process.

Town Administrator Matthew Reed said the town charter is vague about the appointment of selectmen to committees and liaison positions. He said the assignments only needed to be presented to the board and did not require a vote, even though boards had voted on them in the past.

Ward said the charter language could be interpreted in more than one way and that the absence of a past midterm reorganization did not necessarily mean the board could not make one.

Cardin supported allowing Burstein to make the changes following the shift in the board’s membership.

The vacancy was created when Stavens left the Board of Selectmen to accept an appointment to the Board of Education. Spielman, who served as first selectman from 2015 through 2025, was appointed Aug. 17 to complete his term, according to previous Patch reporting.

Under the new assignments, Spielman, Boucher and Thanvanthri will serve on the Capital Improvements Committee. Prichard, Cardin and Ward were assigned to the Personnel Committee.

Boucher will also serve on the Personnel Policies Committee and Emergency Services Committee and act as the board’s liaison to the Ellington Volunteer Fire Department, Human Services Commission and Parks and Recreation Commission.

The assignments will remain in place through the end of the current municipal term in December 2027 unless the board makes additional changes.

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