14 days after the New Canaan Charter Revision Commission voted 6-2 to recommend restricting the First Selectman position to an ex officio role on the Board of Finance and not serve as chairman, First Selectman Rob Mallozzi and six of the other Board of Finance members made a case urging reconsideration at last night’s Charter Revision meeting at Town Hall.
“I’m an ex officio member of eleven boards in this town … I don’t give as much of my time to those [eleven boards], for sure, as I do being the chairman of the Board of Finance, the chief elected official and chief executive officer of this Town,” said Mallozzi, “The first selectman is essential [to the Board of Finance] … But if you’re another member, you may not be as active, because you have someone else quite frankly stepping up and taking your place.”
Finance member John Kanter said, “I’m going to disagree with Rob Mallozzi. He said earlier that ‘If it’s not broke don’t fix it.’ My feeling is if it’s not broke but we can improve it, we should. I don’t think that’s the case here.”
Finance member John Sheffield challenged the concern of Charter Revision members who conveyed in previous meetings, which was related to the “checks and balances” of the Town. He said one of the Board of Finances’ roles is to “consider what the needs and wants of the Town are from a financial point of view … then we make recommendations to the Town Council, but it’s the Town Council who actually says yes or no.”
“The checks and balances lie with the Town Council, ultimately, whether they fulfill and approve whatever it is that was recommended,” Sheffield said.
In addition to Mallozzi, Kanter, and Sheffield, four other Board of Finance members attended the Thursday Charter Revision meeting, and each spoke against the CRC’s vote of two weeks ago and in favor of the first selectmen remaining as chairman of the Board of Finance. They were George Blauvelt, Stephen Boeschenstein, Neil Budnick, and Chris LeBris.
Potential change of heart
Although two weeks had passed since the CRC voted in favor of limiting the first selectman to an ex officio role on the Board of Finance, after the members of the Finance board came out to support the first selectman position remaining as Finance chairman, some of the Charter Revision commissioners admitted to having second thoughts on their initial verdict. A discussion broke out between Charter Revision members on whether or not they made the right decision on the issue.
Charter Revision member Kathleen Corbet initially said at the March 17 meeting about the first selectman as an ex officio member of Finance, “I don’t think it would diminish the first selectman in terms of weighing in on a particular issue.”
After the Board of Finance made their remarks Thursday night, Corbet said, “I’m going to think that through.”
“He or she [first selectman] could be voted as the chairman,” Corbet said, “That is a choice for the whole Board of Finance to make.” According to Corbet, if nobody is coming forth saying there needs to be a change to the first selectman’s current role as chairman of the Board of Finance, then she may want to reconsider her position.
CRC member Kit Devereaux said, “I thought they [Finance members] made some pretty compelling arguments this evening. I know that I’m going to need to think through it again.”
Charter Revision member Kate Hurlock asked the commission, “Do we feel strongly enough that checks and balances should be there, that we should set it up in a such a way that then the Town Council and then the public can vote on it?” Hurlock said, “Ultimately it’s not our decision.”
The Charter Revision process has the Commission making recommendations to the Town Council for possible changes to the charter. The Council then decides which, if any, of the Charter Revision Commission recommendations, will be put on the November election ballot for the voters, who have the final say on any changes to the Charter.
The commission came to a consensus to “digest” Thursday night’s discussion over the weekend and reconvene Monday, April 4 at 5:30 p.m. All Charter Revision Commission meetings are open to the public.
Public Hearing
With the outpouring of support from the Board of Finance leading to a potential re-vote on the issue of the first selectman as Board of Finance chairman, there’s no telling what’s in store for the public hearing tentatively scheduled for April 13. Members of the public will have an opportunity to voice their concerns as to which recommended revisions to the Charter may or may not be necessary.
Charter Revision Commission members are five Republicans: Penny Young, Rich Townsend, Hurlock, Russell Kimes, and Hunt; and four Democrats: Michael Franco, Corbet, Devereaux, and Sally Hines.
All Charter Revision meetings are open to the public, and video of past or present meetings is available online at nctv79.org. For access to public records regarding Charter Revision, see Town Clerk Claudia Weber in her office at Town Hall.
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