Simsbury Charter Revision Commission Public Hearing January 23, 2025

Charter Revision Commission Public Hearing January 23, 2025

Over the years, I have addressed many Charter Revision Commissions with my comments.

After many years of denial, Simsbury now has a Town Manager to serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the Town.

The Town Manager should be the Chief Administrative Officer , assuming the legal responsibilities of the office including the hiring and firing of employees , including but limited to the management of the Personnel files.

Many of the duties of the Town Manager should be defined more clearly in the Charter as we have made the transition from First Selectman to Town Manager form of government.

The Board of Selectmen should transition to a Council form of government with 5 members elected to two-year terms and the selection of the Chairman is selected from the Council members.

The Council members should maintain the duties of the Board of Selectmen.

There should be no compensation for all members of the Council.

This change would be consistent with other Towns that have the Council form of government.

The Town Attorney should be appointed by the Council and serve under the Town Manager as an employee with an office in the Town.

Absenteeism to appointed Boards and Commission should be addressed to assure the ability of the members to perform their duties.

All meetings should be voice recorded.

The Economic Development Commission should be eliminated from the Charter and an ad hoc committee can be instituted to perform special tasks.

The Planning and Zoning Commissions should remain separate as their tasks and focus are different.

The Board of Education should have 5 members that are selected in a competitive process.

All Boards and Commissions should have Public Audience as an agenda item.

The Police Commission ‘s role has changed under the direction of past Town Manager Maria Capriola with an MOU that should be reviewed for compliance in the Charter.