Fairfield RTM Loses 4 Members To Resignation In September

FAIRFIELD, CT — Four members of Fairfield's Representative Town Meeting resigned in September, with three of those resignations occurring in the past week, according to the Town Clerk's office.

Alice Kelly, a Democrat from District 4, resigned early in the month, and she has already been replaced by fellow Democrat Michelle McCabe.

The three who resigned in the past week — District 5 Democrat Will Diaz; District 8 Republican Christine Messina; and District 10 Republican Frank Petise — will be replaced in their respective districts in the near future.

While resignations from town positions are relatively common, four in a month "is unusual," said a member of the Town Clerk's office.

Replacement RTM members are chosen by the remaining members in a district, according to the Town Clerk's office, and must be from the same political party as the member who resigned. The process is spelled out in Section 2.6G of the Fairfield Town Charter.

Patch obtained copies of the three resignation emails from Town Clerk Betsy Browne. Messina's resignation cited "increasing work obligations" for prompting her decision to step down. Petise also said he was resigning "to focus on [his] work obligations," while Diaz simply said he was resigning immediately, and thanked the RTM and government for the opportunity to serve.

Browne said the members from Districts 8 and 10 have scheduled meetings to select replacements, while District 5 has not yet contacted her as to when it plans to hold its meeting to choose a new member.

The Fairfield Citizen reported that the districts already have people in mind to replace the exiting members, and will likely have the new RTMers in place within the next week or two.