Town Charter: A Long Way Off for Westbrook, Connecticut

WESTBROOK - It appears that this shoreline community might be a long way from having a charter of its own forcing it to continue to look to the state statues for answers.

At the April 17 Board of Selectmen meeting, Charter Study Commission Chairman Joe Campbell presented a Feb. 5, 2007 report that was never acted upon by the previous town administration.

The report, passed by the commission on a 5-2 vote, states that "a town charter would be in the best interest of the Town of Westbrook and that the Board of Selectmen should appoint a charter commission to start the process."

Campbell explained that a charter could help create more organization for town government clarifying accountability and responsibility issues and provide more direction for the town.

It could also separate out the municipal and educational sides of the budget, expand and modify length of terms by the Board of Selectmen, and change terms and sizes of town boards and commissions.

While a town charter could change the form of government, Campbell said he did not recommend it.

Westbrook has a selectmen/town meeting form of government while other towns have forms of governments that include a mayor, town manager, and/or town council.

Of the 169 Connecticut municipalities, 109 have their own charters while the rest are "state statue" towns.

One of the two opponents of the report, commission member Robert Traut, told selectmen that the report "relied solely on feelings and this is not good enough for serious consideration."

Traut said that the commission was created under the administration of First Selectman Tony Palermo and that it was "virtually impossible" for Campbell to "satisfactory complete any one of the goals" that Palermo set forth.

Part of those goals included making a decision of what parts of a charter would apply to Westbrook, what pros and cons the charter would have for the town, and if appropriate, the creation a draft charter for the selectmen.

While both Traut and Campbell agreed that the town does not "need" a charter, the two differed on how and when an outside consultant could provide assistance.

Traut advocated that selectmen consider getting a consultant before creating a charter commission so that pros and cons of a charter could be determined.

Campbell believes outside consultants could provide assistance after charter commission members are appointed to help them determine what ways the charter could better the town.

A charter is not "irreversible or irrevocable" and can be revised as needed, Campbell said.

Whether a charter is created or not, Campbell said it is "important that the voters decide" and explained that if a charter commission was formed, the public could provide feedback at various stages as required by Connecticut State Statues 7-188 through 7-191.

After a charter commission completes its draft and selectmen make recommendations, residents would go to a referendum.

Traut cautioned that "the matter of a change in the governance of our town is very important" adding that "the board needs a bedrock study that it will be able to rely on."

Selectman Marie Farrell expressed her disappointment that the six-page report did not have enough information while Selectman Jim Crawford said that "objective pros and cons should be presented to the people."

Crawford agreed with Traut that an outside consultant should be brought in to study the issue before a charter commission is created, while Campbell said "the way I see it that in this town when we have a problem, we like to throw money at it."

Selectmen unanimously voted to dissolve the charter study commission.

Regarding Traut's recommendation to hire an outside consultant before a charter commission is created; First Selectman Noel Bishop said that he was "not prepared to act on this tonight."

After the meeting, Campbell said he was disappointed with the selectmen's decision to not immediately form a charter commission.