Letter To The Editor: Seeking More Transparency In Charter Revision

The following is an open letter to the Fairfield Board of Selectmen:

To: Board of Selectmen (BOS)

Re: Charter Revision- Need Adequate Notice and Opportunity for Public to be Heard

Dear First Selectwoman Kupchick, and Selectpersons Flynn and Lefkowitz:

I am a town resident and former 3-term RTM member and current commissioner on Fairfield’s TPZ.

I urge you to provide adequate notice and a full opportunity for the public to be heard on the potentially government-changing decisions you will propose to our Town Charter. The process of governmental action on changing our Charter, is as important as the substantive changes being proposed.

We are now barely 2 business days away from a BOS special meeting on Charter Revision, on Monday June 27, yet I can find nothing on the Town website to inform the public. Other Town meetings appear through June but there is no Agenda or Town Meeting item for the BOS special meetings on Charter Revision. I was informed after inquiry via email from the Town, that there will be only 2 virtual BOS meetings, on Monday June 27 and Wednesday June 29, at which the BOS will vote on Charter Revision.

This goes against the clear expectation expressed by the Charter Revision Commission (CRC) itself. On June 20, the CRC transmitted its final recommendation in a 115-page packet to the BOS from the CRC’s June 13 final meeting. This included a suggested schedule for the BOS for 3 dates- June 27 (CRC presentation), June 29 (Q&A and public hearing), and July 5 (final meeting and BOS vote).

The CRC emphasizes accountability, transparency, outreach, expanded public participation, engagement, and trust in its document. The CRC states: “The Proposed Revised Charter is driven by the desire to achieve both a great level of accountability and, at the same time, maintain the flexibility to address public needs as they arise. We believe that public officials should be answerable to the people and that the government should be flexible enough to react, in real time, by budget or ordinance to meet the needs of the people.”

The inadequate public notice, lack of outreach, and truncated hearing schedule thwart the mission of the CRC and if not corrected may well taint the public perception of the entire process.

To protect the process and the perception of fairness to our 60,000+ Town of Fairfield residents, and to support the CRC’s mission, I respectfully suggest that the BOS publish notice of special hearings on Charter Revision at least 1 week in advance, hold more than just 2-3 hearings and have in-person hybrid hearings as other boards and commissions are doing. The importance of this undertaking requires nothing less.

Respectfully,
Kathryn L. Braun, Fairfield Resident