LTE: Dissolving Of Fairfield Parking Authority Is 'Disturbing'

The following is a letter from Fairfield resident Kathleen Griffin, who resides in District 7, that she sent to the Representative Town Meeting concerning last week's decision to dissolve the town's Parking Authority:

Dear Members of the RTM -

I am stunned by the RTM's decision to dissolve the Fairfield Parking Authority and most especially by the process, speed, and lack of transparency in which it was accomplished.

I may have some of the details wrong, but it's my understanding that:

• The item was not on the February RTM Warning when it was noticed and printed in the paper

• The item was added to the February meeting as a Supplemental less than 24 hours before the February committee meetings

• [Legislation & Administration] voted to suspend the rules and bypassed its typical holding over period to take it out of L&A the same night they heard it in committee

• No public discussion was had at the February meeting by the full RTM on the item

• February individual committee recordings were not available on the RTM’s agendas web page nor linked in the individual committee minutes

• The item was listed as ‘hear and consider’ on the March Warning

• The item was first heard by the full RTM committee starting at approximately 11:00 pm on March 24

• No individual committee meetings were held on March 24 due to the late hour, so the item was never discussed in individual committees

• A motion was made last night (March 31) to amend the item to ‘hear, consider, and act’

• The vote to amend passed, and then the item as amended passed, all happening while the BOF was having its final deliberations on the budget, including a lengthy discussion on the Parking Authority

And yet your rules to regulate spell out a very different process:

“All proposed ordinances shall initially be referred to the Committee on Legislation and Administration and thereafter to any appropriate standing or special committee as referred by the Moderator for consideration. All proposed ordinances subsequently shall be formally listed on the Warning for two Meetings and discussed by appropriate committees prior to each Meeting as provided herein."

In my twenty years of government service, including my time on the RTM, I have never seen the RTM act on an ordinance so important to the checks and balances in our government in such a short time, with such limited information, and never under the guise of meeting a budget deadline. I don’t have to remind anyone how many months the RTM holds over modifications to senior tax relief or how much time and discussion was given to noise ordinance revisions.

Ordinances are in place for a reason, most often to protect the interests of your constituents, and this one was no exception. Improved operational efficiency is never a substitute for good government. There are almost always two sides to a story.

And the fact that you didn’t give the Parking Authority Board of Commissioners or its manager the courtesy of due process is both disturbing and disappointing.

I have other broader concerns on the process that is outside your purview. But I sincerely hope the RTM will return to a transparent and methodical consideration process, one that your constituents and fellow public servants need and deserve.

Sincerely,

Kathleen Griffin
Fairfield, CT