Charter Revision Commission

CHARTER REVISION COMMISSION September 11, 2014, 6:30PM City Hall, Room 335 100 Broadway, Norwich, CT I. Call to Order: Chairman L. King called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM. II. Roll Call: Members present: Chairman Les King, Linda Becker, Michael Gualtieri, Debra Dickey, Janis Sawicki, Arthur Lathrop, Richard Podurgiel Members Absent: None Others Present: David Crabbe, Peter Nystrom III.Communications: The following communications were reviewed and motions made to be accepted and discussed under new business below: a. 2014-08-01 Baker resignation: Motion Commissioner Podurgiel, 2nd Commissioner Gualtieri, motion carried unanimously. b. 2014-07-30 Wisneski letter: Motion Commissioner Podurgiel, 2nd Commissioner Dickey, motion carried unanimously. c. 2014-07-21 Scandariato web submission: Motion Commissioner Becker, 2nd Commissioner Dickey, motion carried unanimously. d. 2014-07-02 Loose resignation: Motion Commissioner Sawicki, 2nd Commissioner Gualtieri, motion carried unanimously. IV. Approval of Minutes from July 10, 2014: Motion to accept as presented, Commissioner Gualtieri, 2nd Commissioner Dickey, motion carried 5-2 with Commissioner Podurgiel and Commissioner Lathrop abstaining. V. New Business: a. Introduction of new members: Chairman King went around the table and asked everyone to introduce themselves and give a brief background. b. Motion to accept the resignation of Kent Baker with regrets, Commissioner Becker, 2nd Commissioner Sawicki, motion carried unanimously. c. Chairman King pointed out that the Wisneski letter is not a Charter Revision Commission issue. Motion to forward the communication to the City Manager for response and send a letter to Mr. Wisneski stating such, Commissioner Lathrop, 2nd Commissioner Podurgiel, motion carried unanimously. d. Motion to put the Scandariato communication in the file to be discussed with the one city tax, Commissioner Podurgiel 2nd Commissioner Dickey, motion carried unanimously. Charter Revision Commission Minutes 9-11-14 p. -2- e. Motion to accept Leland Loose resignation with regrets, Commissioner Lathrop, 2nd Commissioner Gualtieri, motion carried unanimously. VI. Old Business: a. Zoldaz request: Motion that this issue not be taken up by the Commission, Commissioner Podurgiel, 2nd Commissioner Becker, discussion followed. Commissioner Lathrop spoke about the positive aspects of having the Council approve the budget. Commissioner Dickey spoke about multiple referendums that can result from voter approval of budgets. Chairman King agrees with this position. Motion carried unanimously. b. Ring request: Commissioner Gualtieri asked what the job of the Treasurer is. Commissioner Lathrop and Commissioner Podurgiel gave information on the role of the Treasurer. Motion that this issue not be taken up by the Commission, Commissioner Lathrop, 2nd Commissioner Gualtieri, motion carried unanimously. c. BOE letter: No action needs to be taken at this point; letter will be put in file for later discussion. d. Discussion of 2014-06-12 presentations by the BOE and Registrar: The Board of Education discussed term lengths and how long it takes new members get up to speed. They have requested that the term lengths be changed from two to four years, staggered. RP pointed out that they are still going to have to consider the council member term length extension. Commissioner Lathrop is concerned that many of the items that they have been asked to consider involve a diminishment of the democratic process. He sees a larger issue here than any one thing. He is not as concerned about the BOE as he is about the City Council term lengths and he feels it is a very important issue for the Commission to consider. He also pointed out that frequent elections allow for voter reaction to current issues. Commissioner Sawicki feels that as far as the BOE is concerned; there are so many mandates that come down from Hartford that it takes constant work to keep up with them and it is foolish to have BOE elections every two years. Commissioner Dickey also pointed out the complexity of the Norwich School system. The BOE term lengths and Council term lengths are two separate issues. Motion that the terms for the BOE be extended to four years, staggered terms Commissioner Dickey, 2nd Commissioner Sawicki, motion carried 6-1 with Commissioner Lathrop opposing. Commission Dickey feels that a four year term for Registrars would be beneficial as it is a very complex, responsible job. Chairman King commented that it is very difficult for Registrars to set up processes with two year terms. Motion that the Registrar of Voters terms be extended to four years, not staggered, Commissioner Becker, 2nd Commissioner Gualtieri, motion carried unanimously. Charter Revision Commission Minutes 9-11-14 p. -3- e. Becker research on absentee voting: Chairman King stated that proxy voting cannot be allowed unless it is in the by-laws. Commissioner Becker stated that Robert's Rules do state that if it is established from the outset of the Commission's establishment it can be allowed, but it should not be an issue with this Commission as it is a small membership and members are almost always in attendance. The Commission will not allow absentee voting; members must be present to vote. VII. Form an Agenda for Next Meeting: a. Raising council bonding threshold to a percent of the adopted budget: Commissioner Lathrop pointed out that at the last Charter Revision referendum, the only issue that failed was increasing the bonding threshold. b. Tying the capital budget to a percentage of the operating budget: Presenters to be asked to attend to discuss the above: City Manager, Comptroller, Mayor, Bond Counsel, Dick Thiverge c. Discussion on City Council pay/stipends d. Meeting frequency Motion to suspend the rules to add discussion of and possible action on City Council term length extension from two to four year staggered terms, Commissioner Becker, 2nd Commissioner Dickey, motion carried unanimously. Commission Lathrop feels that the suggestions coming from the Council were colored by recent events that had occurred at the time. He feels that two year terms allow for timely public reaction to current issues. The only excuse for the Mayor having a four year term is the charge of economic development which takes a continuous, articulated effort and vision which is better achieved with a four year term. Commissioner Podurgiel understands that two years is a short period of time for someone to get up to speed on government operations. However, he agrees with Commission Lathrop that the issue is accountability and performance. The public can vote on the record of members and he agrees with retaining a two year term length. Commissioner Gualtieri agrees that the voters' response to the budget can be expressed through their vote for council every two years. Commissioner Dickey agrees that people need to work to get themselves up to speed and if they put in the work it can be done in two years. Motion that city council term lengths remain at two years, Commissioner Becker, 2nd Commissioner Dickey, motion carried unanimously. VIII. Comments by Commissioners: Commissioner Lathrop recommends that everyone read the April 2000 report by the Charter Revision Commission. Commissioner Podurgiel suggests getting input from the Corporation Counsel. Commissioner Charter Revision Commission Minutes 9-11-14 p. -4- Dickey suggested also revising for typographical and grammatical errors. Commissioner Podurgiel is not sure there will be time to address all of these issues. Chairman King feels that the referendum questions should be kept to a minimum or the voters will just vote no. IX. Adjournment: Motion to adjourn, Commissioner Dickey, 2nd Commissioner Podurgiel, motion carried unanimously, meeting adjourned at 8:00 PM.