Charter Revision Commission Public Hearing May 5, 2016

Charter Revision Commission Meeting May 5, 2016

I would like to give my insight into the process that has been initiated and followed by this Commission. The Charter Revision Commission was convened to review and make changes to the Charter that would make the administration more professional. Once the Commission decided, after hearing testimony from the professionals and residents that a Town Manager would be appropriate for Simsbury, I feel the members of the Commission should have tackled this major change, a Town Manager as the CEO, without adding numerous extraneous issues that could have been discussed at a later time. This took many hours of testimony and meetings that could have been eliminated if the only task of Town Manager was incorporated into the Charter. After a lengthy deliberative process and finalizing a report, everyone was suffering from mental and physical fatigue. This could have been eliminated had the Commission only presented a Charter with a Town Manager/Council form of government for the public to deliberate. Having all these extraneous changes and providing a Town Manager in a hybrid form with the remnants of a First Selectman and a Board of Selectmen, leads to confusion for public consumption.

After numerous meetings and a Final Report already published there appeared to be no need for another hearing. However, the law requires a final hearing on the Charter Revision process.. On April 28, 2016 this Commission held the hearing to hear from the public on the Town’s allegedly draft Charter which was already published in final form. The Charter is the Constitution of the Town and as presented is a change from First Selectman as the CEO to a Town Manager; a substantial change which I agree is needed. It appears that the hearing would not change any of the published documents. However, the Charter Revision Commission is required to have a final public hearing on the Charter. Many in attendance were disappointed that several of the Commissioners were absent although the Chairman was assured that there would be a quorum for a final vote. . Some of the commissioners did not live up to their commitment to serve the public and the meeting ended with public input, no quorum and no vote. The meeting was abruptly finished without addressing the other agenda items for the meeting. The date was set, the process was flawed and now we have another meeting that should have been eliminated if members were in attendance The Charter as published will be forwarded to the Board of Selectman for review and final vote to approve, make changes, or send it to a Referendum for a final vote.

Now we are here tonight again to discuss the same issues that were discussed at the last meeting without a quorum, having the public and SCTV volunteers attending another meeting being assured again that a quorum will be in attendance for a vote.

The Town Manager issue has been discussed for many years with the political operatives against losing their control. The political operatives from both parties are not interested in serving the public but enhancing their roles in town government. Although 3 of the last First Selectman, Shanks, Mielert, and Glassman are now in favor of a Town Manager, when they were in office they were vehemently opposed to the Town Manager issue. They all were self-serving. Now that the Town Manager issue is before us once again, the Charter continues to keep a remnant of the past by having a hybrid form of government with a remaining First Selectman in a ceremonial role, with a salary. This manipulation of a pure Council/Manager once again leaves the town in a dual role of governance. The Charter should reinstate the residency requirement that was taken out for the Town Manager position, which is a necessary inclusion to make the Town Manager an integral part of the community. I understand that a minority of members of this commission are not in favor of a Town Manager. However, they should abide by a majority vote for a Town Manager and not place convoluted demands on the Administration and to continue to have a hybrid government with a First Selectman and Board of Selectmen.

The final report has been published and there will be more time set aside to discuss these issues and educate the public on the need for a professional Town Manager as the Charter’s journey continues before a Referendum vote.

I will post my comments on Simsbury Patch, Simsbury Forum/Topix, Twitter@Joan Coe and the News Feed on Facebook.