Commissioners Differ on Purpose as Charter Revision Gets Underway

There’s a clear split in philosophical beliefs amongst members of the newly formed Charter Revision Commission regarding how the town’s government should operate, and those differences could lead to some debate before any possible revisions are made.

As members of the commission came together for the first time Wednesday, those differences in opinion became clear when Democrat Dennis Conroy questioned the charge tasked to the commission.

“When the charter was adopted, it was sort of a compromise, adopted with modifications,” Conroy said. “What we have now, including the police and fire commissions, is that every board reports to the council through the budget process at the beginning of the year. They didn’t want the power concentrated in one particular person.”

The commission has been tasked to review whether it would make sense to revise government operations to eliminate the police and fire commissions, instead placing oversight of operations for the Southington Police Department and Southington Fire Department under control of the town manager and town council.

Chairman Brian Callahan and commissioner Andrew Meade, both Republicans, said ultimately the goal is to improve efficiency by creating a system that mimics a successful business, rather than leaving full power of the two departments up to a board of politically appointed officials.

Meade, who spent over two decades on the Southington Town Council, said ultimately it would reflect the manager as CEO with the council serving the purpose of a Board of Directors.

“It does not place the power in the hands of one man. It rather creates a more professional, business-like structure,” Meade said. “The biggest change would be to the hiring and firing of staffing. This way, it takes a professional CEO and council to do the hiring and firing of the chiefs.”

Meade said one of the problems with the process now is that political appointments have led to the promotion of chiefs from within the department. This has led to some good leaders, but has also produced some “not so good ones,” he said.

Conroy questioned this theory, saying that commissions already have the option to hire from outside, adding that a change would do little to affect the staffing process. He also questioned whether the commissions could be changed to advisory boards without overstepping the rules set forth in Connecticut General Statutes.

Southington Town Attorney Mark Sciota said if the commission were to recommend a change, it would also require eliminating the name change for the purpose of meeting the state laws, with the commissions being known and serving directly as advisory boards.

Callahan said ultimately, however, he believes exploring this option would eliminate the political games and enhance operational efficiency of both departments.

“When (the commissions were) formed years ago, by this charter, they had two-thirds less police and half a dozen regular firefighters. Things have changed, sophistication is now so much higher,” Callahan said. “When hiring a CEO in a town manager, it is a professional and he certainly isn’t going to jeopardize his position in community by playing political games.”

Conroy disagreed, however.

“Political games happen everyday, in every walk of life and even in private organizations, where political games play a role in who gets what job,” he said.

But the commission isn’t simply looking to make this a debate amongst the five appointed commissioners either, Callahan said. The commission on Thursday voted unanimously to create a schedule where meetings would be held every other Wednesday over the next two months, with a public hearing to be held at the next meeting on April 17 to hear input from the public, as well as other ideas for charter changes.

In addition, the group will reach out to find town managers that currently oversee municipal police and fire departments with the goal of hearing from those managers during the commission meeting on May 1.

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