Looking At The Questions Voters Will Face On Election Day

By Dean Wright, The Bristol Press

November 1, 2021

With the Nov. 2 election coming next week, voters will be asked to make some important choices when they vote.

Voters will be asked, “Shall the treasurer be changed from a two-year elected official to a four-year appointed official?”

“That came up two years ago and was a suggestion made by the then treasurer and the mayor,” said area attorney John Fitzgerald, previous chair of the Bristol Charter Revision Commission. “It was on the ballot and it lost and the mayor asked to put it back on the ballot. The thinking behind that was it was a part-time position but because the treasurer also is a fairly narrow area to cover. You need a financial background to be treasurer not only to do the general work or to lead staff but also because the treasurer serves on the police and fire pension board.”

Fitzgerald said that city officials had discussed putting the issue back on the ballot because some felt it was better that an individual with a financial and investment background was best to serve in the treasurer’s position. Some officials thought it was better as an appointed position. Fitzgerald said that another argument or view of the issue is that sometimes one might want an elected individual to oversee hired or appointed staff.

Voters will aslo be asked, “Shall the term of office for the elected registrars of voters be changed from two to four years?”

Bristol Registrars of Voters Sharon Krawiecki and Kevin McCauley said that the issue must come before voters because it would be a change in the city’s charter. Of Connecticut’s 169 towns, 98 of them have four-year terms.

“We think it matters to have a four-year term and that experience matters,” said Krawiecki. “To keep a continuity of experience is helpful.”

McCauley said that a few years ago the Connecticut Secretary of State required a certification for registrars of voters and it takes about two years to go through the process.

“There’s a price tag (to get the certification) and at the end of the two-year term, if you’re voted out, you’re starting all over again having to train and go through the state certification program along with the money that goes with that,” said McCauley. “Presidential elections are also a huge preparation and come every four years.”

He said that if a registrar has a four-year term, the individual is much better prepared to handle the challenges of organizing the necessary steps for a presidential election year.

Voters, lastly, will be asked, “Shall the renumbering and reorganization of the city’s charter and table of contents also be approved?”

According to Fitzgerald, the city’s charter currently lacks a table of contents that makes it far simpler to find passages that may need referenced for the city’s operation. He said the content of the charter would not be changed so much as reorganized to make it simpler to read or searched through.