Opinion: We Should Not Disempower The RTM

The following open letter to the Fairfield Board of Selectmen is by Kathryn L. Braun:

To: Fairfield Board of Selectpersons
Re: Charter Revision

Dear First Selectwoman Kupchick, Selectman Flynn and Selectwoman Lefkowitz:

This Independence Day weekend we celebrate our rejection of strong centralized government run at the whim of the executive. We celebrate the power of every citizen to have a voice in our democracy. Yet Fairfield’s Charter Revision process appears to be inhibiting the voice and will of our Town residents and enhancing the power of political insiders.

Many changes that have been suggested, both those included in the Charter Revision Commission’s (CRC’s) report and others that were dropped due to feared lack of public support, have tended to shift and concentrate power from the Legislative to the Executive branch, and from the people to political insiders.

The charter review process was unnecessarily shortened by 7 months, which per members of the CRC, did not allow sufficient time to fully explore all items. And yet, we have a proposal pending now before the Board of Selectmen (BOS), that disempowers the RTM by reducing both its size and its ability to self-regulate its size, and another change which gives the First Selectperson the power to mediate and resolve disputes among all town bodies- including those that carry out State laws, and including the RTM itself, which is a separate branch of government, not “under” the First Selectperson. (The BOS discussed this item and the ‘resolve’ may drop the ‘resolve’ component, but the “mediate” component is still troubling). Further, the First Selectperson would have sole authority over the Chief Administrative Officer.

Now it appears that the BOS will be completing its analysis on July 5, a full 30 days short of what the law allows, at a time when there are many competing demands on the public’s attention, including graduations, vacations and the July 4th holiday. Many of the substantive changes being put forth to the BOS were not fully discussed or voted on by the CRC. Also not discussed is why it is necessary to compress the entire process into a shortened time period to get any changes on the 2022 November ballot. Why not take the time allowed and let any changes go on the November 2023 or on special referendum? There is no urgency or public pressure to change our Charter this year.

The RTM is truly the voice of the people. Having between 4-5 representatives in each geographic district enhances contact between representatives and residents, encourages public engagement and supports a diversity of candidates running for office. The 2-year election cycle ensures accountability at the ballot box. Cutting the RTM’s maximum size by 46 percent from 56 to 30 makes no sense, especially considering the RTM has used its own authority to reduce its current size to 40. On a per-capita basis our RTM is already only about 1/5 the size of Greenwich, Westport and Darien’s, on average. We should not disempower the RTM from regulating its size as the population, residents’ desires, and complexity may require. As one CRC member pointed out, the arguments offered by the CRC are purely subjective, and not based on any compelling reasons or objective data.

The recommendation to appoint the First Selectperson as the mediator and arbiter of disputes between all town bodies, is similarly unwarranted, unneeded and actually dangerous, and I ask that the BOS reject it in its entirety. Our public bodies carry out State law or have missions that should not be interfered with by any one person, and of course the RTM is a different branch of government entirely. The Court system is the venue to interpret and decide disputes between public bodies. This would shift more power to the First Selectperson and is not supported by any public desire or objective evidence.

In another oddly unwarranted move not supported by any public desire, the CRC has recommended at this point in our Town’s history, that we ‘dumb down’ the important Director of Public Works position by deleting the long-standing requirement that the director be a professional engineer licensed by the State. Again, there is no objective evidence or public desire to reduce the professional expertise of the person who we want accountable to lead our infrastructure into our coastal-climate-changing future. One claim is that it’s hard to find one- but have we tried? It doesn’t appear that we have retained a recruiting firm as is the norm to find a qualified, credentialed director since the interim (unqualified per our Charter) DPW head was hired almost 2 years ago. Our director should not have to rely on underlings for professional expertise. Proper recruitment is the answer, not charter revision to reduce qualifications.

The Town Charter is our Town’s Constitution, and there is no compelling reason at this time to shift power from one branch to another, or to inhibit speech and debate or discourage public engagement. It should not be changed in ways that will lead to our Town being run by a clubby group of insiders from the 2 major political parties, especially when 42 percent of our voters are registered in neither party.

In our democracy we encourage vigorous debate, diversity of opinion and free speech over the desire to streamline and make government decisions fast and tidy. The Town Charter could use some clarification and organization improvements, but substantive changes are not needed, not justified and not asked for by the people the BOS represents. The time and effort of the CRC in this regard is commendable, but it has not adequately justified the need for its most significant proposed changes.

Please keep the will of the people at the forefront of your deliberations and reject those changes that would shift the balance of power, broaden the executive’s power, or reduce the qualifications of those officials we rely on to run our town.

Thank you for your work on this important task.

Sincerely,
Kathryn L. Braun
Fairfield Resident