Fairfield Selectpersons Send 24 Items Back For Charter Revision Review

FAIRFIELD, CT — The Fairfield Charter Revision Commission will take another crack at two-dozen items from their recommendations for changes to the Town Charter, including whether to shrink the Representative Town Meeting to 30 members.

In a meeting on Tuesday, the second of two meetings this week, the Board of Selectpersons decided to send 24 items back to the Charter Revision Commission for further analysis.

Though the matter was approved, it came after Selectwoman Nancy Lefkowitz, the sole Democrat on the three-member board, objected to language at the end of the resolution to send the items back to the commission.

"For the record, I'm in favor of the motions to send to the commission," Lefkowitz said. "However, I believe [the ending two paragraphs] are a mischaracterization. But having said that, I'm not in favor of holding up the work of the commission. I'm just frustrated by the process."

At issue for Lefkowitz was that the last two paragraphs of the resolution (under the "Be it further resolved..." sections) ratified things she had not participated in, such as the selection of Hamden attorney Steve Mednick, the outside counsel who worked with the Charter Revision Commission.

Additionally, she, and some residents, found the process was rushed, even though the commission had worked on the matter for nine months, because state statutes allow for significantly more time to conduct charter reviews.

First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick and Selectman Tom Flynn, and some residents, want to get charter revision questions on the ballot in the fall election, which means the final questions need to be at the Secretary of State's office in early September.

For some residents, the main sticking point of the recommended changes to the charter was the reduction of the RTM from its current 40 members to 30. The commission recommended the change primarily to help with accountability and efficiency, but some residents objected, because they believed it could hamper representation and make governing more difficult.

"Since there's been so much consternation on the issue, we should send it back to the commission," Kupchick said of the proposed RTM reduction.

At the beginning of Tuesday's meeting, the board had 27 items it was considering sending, but settled on sending 24, after dropping seven items and then adding four.

Among the items the commission will re-examine include the "Rules of Order and Civility;" how vacancies are dealt with on the Board of Selectpersons; whether the Town Attorney should be an elector of the town; and whether to add RTM members in the definition of Elected Town Official.

The commission is expected to spend a month or less re-examining the items before sending the revised Town Charter back to the Board of Selectpersons for final approval.

If approved by the board, the charter question could be on the ballot in the November election.