Letter To The Editor: RTM Public Comment, Committees Return

Press release from Karen Wackerman:

October 30 2020

FAIRFIELD RTM RESUMES PUBLIC COMMENT AND COMMITTEE MEETINGS

To the Editor:

When COVID-19 hit Connecticut and everything shut down, town meetings in Fairfield were halted. When they resumed, they were conducted virtually, in accordance with the Governor’s executive orders allowing such meetings. In normal times, the RTM has a joint meeting of all of its committees the week before its regular meeting so that representatives can hear presentations from town staff about the various matters they will be voting on. That allows representatives to follow up with questions on those items during the week before the regular meeting so they are prepared to vote. After the presentations, the five individual committees of the RTM meet to discuss the items and any other matters before them. Among other things, if the RTM is going to consider any new ordinances or amendments to ordinances, the Legislation and Administration Committee must first review the proposals. Without the ability to meet, no such business can be conducted.

Although I tried many times, I was unable for many months to get cooperation from the town administration to facilitate committee meetings. The technology needs to be handled by the town to ensure that all legal requirements are being met, and I encountered a brick wall when I asked for help to enable these meetings. Finally, thanks to Dave Kelley, Fairfield’s hard-working IT director, we worked out a system of multiple simultaneous conference calls that now allows the committees to meet. The system is a bit cumbersome, and there can be technical glitches, but RTM business can now move forward as it should.

The other important piece of our RTM meetings that has been missing during the pandemic is the ability of the public to comment on an item during a meeting. Normally, public comment is invited during the discussions of most items at RTM meetings. This was also a feature that I asked the administration repeatedly to help the RTM reinstate, but to no avail. Again, thanks to Mr. Kelley, we have finally established a process similar to what some neighboring towns’ RTMs have been using for many months, which allows the public to comment during an RTM meeting.

Things will not be “back to normal” for some time due to this pandemic, but as elected officials we owe it to the residents of Fairfield to conduct town meetings in as open and productive a way as possible. I am grateful that the RTM can at last invite public comment and hold committee meetings. I urge all residents to view the agendas of RTM meetings (see https://www.fairfieldct.org/rtm/agendas, which also links to backup information for each meeting) to learn how to request the ability to make a live public comment during a regular meeting, how to submit a written comment to the RTM, and how to listen to committee meetings and regular meetings of the RTM.

Karen Wackerman

Moderator, Fairfield RTM

And Representative, RTM District 7

This press release was produced by Karen Wackerman. The views expressed here are the author’s own.