Letter To The Editor: Supporting Charter Revision

To the Editor:

Having served on two Charter Revision Commissions, and having been involved in Town government for over 50 years, I took a particular interest in the recent proposals. This CRC not only encouraged public comment, but also made some substantive changes that resulted in a far better document this time. In general, this Charter is more “user-friendly;” it is better organized, has clarified some confusing language, has included cross-referencing, and addressed some glaring omissions that have been discovered since 2006.

For example, a flaw in the current Board of Education election process results in an automatic election every two years. Another example is that when the Board of Selectmen term was changed to four years it failed to adequately address the vacancy procedures for filling an unexpired term. New language addresses these concerns.

The new proposal also includes uniform standards of conduct in civility and decorum at public meetings, an unfortunate necessity, Fairfield recently having been subjected to acts of political rudeness. It also clarifies that the Representative Town Meeting shall have ten districts with four representatives each, right-sizing that legislative body for a Town of 60,000 plus residents.

Updating our Charter is long overdue. Another positive change specifies that the Charter is to be reviewed every ten years; that does not prevent a Charter revision at any time, however.

I support these necessary changes and urge you to vote YES on the Fairfield Charter Revision ballot question on November 8th.

Judy Ewing
Fairfield, CT