Phase Two of Charter Revision Begins

For more than a year the Charter Revision Commission labored over proposed changes to the document that governs town government, and now it's the Legislative Council's turn.

On Wednesday the two bodies met at the Board of Education offices to officially begin the second  phase of the process that will cumulate this November when voters get to approve or reject the proposed changes.

The proposed draft charter is available online here and here.

"I know you worked countless hours on this document," council president Jim Pascarella told the CRC. "You have done a tremendous job -- this is a phenomenal document."

CRC co-chairman Rev. K. Dexter Cheney has counted the hours, and they total 600, he said.

"This reflects our effort to look ahead and recognize that we live in a rapidly-changing world," he said, "while preserving the parts that have served us well."

The proposed changes are significant but not a complete overhaul of town government, said CRC attorney and Hamden resident Steven Mednick.

"This is not a massive alteration of government," he said. "It does not alter the structure of town government but alters the structure of the legal document that governs the town."

Some suggestions like extending terms of elected officials from two to four years made it into the draft proposed charter, while other suggestions, including the implementation of a budget referendum, didn't, Cheney said.

Under the proposed changes, the four-year terms would be phased in and by the 2017 election all positions would be elected for four years, Mednick said. Some would have already transitioned to four years before that, he said, but by that year the transition would be completed.

The suggestion of  the town going to a referendum budget process elicited "groans and minimal support," Cheney said. 

"We decided not to include it," he said. "For a town the size of Hamden, it would be inefficient and impractical" and would make it very difficult in terms of budget planning because of the uncertainty involved, he said.

But the commission did not discount the feelings of those who support a referendum, Cheney said. In response to their concerns, the commission voted to change the percentage of signatures needed to force a referendum from 20 percent of the electorate to 15 percent, he said.

"It makes the process to petition for a budget overrule somewhat less stringent," he said, "and bring it in line with state statutes."

The draft charter also puts in place for the first time an official process for dealing with emergency situations, Mednick said. 

"There was no place that outlined how the mayor and the council could declare a state of emergency," he said. "Until now they were operating in a netherworld but this sets up a process in the case of an emergency or catastrophy."

The council will hold a public hearing on the proposed changes in June and will vote on any changes it wants to make in July. It then goes back to the CRC, who will approve or reject the council's suggestions and send it back to the council for final approval.

It then will be placed on the November ballot, where voters have the ultimate say on whether the changes are implemented.

But it's not likely to be a contentious process, both the CRC and the council agree.

Pascarella said he wants the CRC to be involved in the council's deliberations so they can work together to arrive at a document both bodies agree on.

"The relationship between the council and the commission has been truly outstanding," Mednick said. "This is an outstanding model and one I hope to take with me as I work on other charter revisions throughout the state."