Is the Charter Revision Commission Truly Representative of the Community?

On a commission that could forever change the make-up of the community, there currently sits a five-member panel with years of experience in public service and politics. The panel, all men, is charged with looking into whether changes to operational oversight of the Southington Police Department and Southington Fire Department.

Despite all the experience and first-hand knowledge of government operations, however, there are a few things missing – not a single woman is represented and there are no Independent voters, only active members of the Democratic and Republican parties.

Councilman John Barry said he regrets the oversight and would like to see further discussion regarding possible expansion of the committee to make sure a larger portion of the community is properly represented in the revision effort, one which will affect every resident in Southington.

“In a community of 42,000 people and with a document as important as charter, it is a major oversight to have an absence of any woman on the charter revision commission,” Barry said in a phone conversation Tuesday. “There’s no one person, no one party to blame. It’s an oversight that was made by all nine members of the council and I’m as guilty as anyone else.”

The council last month appointed a five member commission tasked with a difficult, philosophical review of town government operations and whether after nearly 50 years, it’s time to readjust the responsibilities of the police and fire commissions to serve as advisory boards.

In such, the boards would remain in place while taking on a role that would involve providing feedback on important processes including hiring and annual budgets. The commissions currently provide full oversight of these tasks, but the proposed change would ultimately redirect oversight of departmental operations to the town manager, with the goal of this oversight now being done by “a professionally hired CEO,” according to commission member Andrew Meade.

For the first time in the past two decades, however, the commission tasked with making a final recommendation on charter changes does not include a woman. In addition, the average age of the two Democrats on the commission is 64-years-old, while the average age of the three Republicans sits at 72-years-old, officials said.

Barry and other Democrats on Monday said they believe it’s also an oversight that can be fixed, and fairly quickly, by appointing one woman – potentially through the appointment of an additional commissioner, possibly a female registered as an Independent, or more.

“I could understand if they wanted to make sure there is an odd number and it would be up to the majority party how to proceed,” Barry said Tuesday. “Perhaps one woman, perhaps both. Maybe they are Independents, since it is a growing base of our voters who now outnumber either party. I just think it’s an issue that should be addressed.”

But Republicans said it’s not something that wasn’t considered when the commission was formed.

Councilwoman Cheryl Lounsbury said the Southington Republican Town Committee approached several women, all of which were unavailable to serve on the latest charter revision commission.

“We offered the position to several women, even before the men chosen, and we were unable to find those available,” she said. “Many people, not just women, have a limited amount of free time these says and unfortunately we were unable to find a fit.”

“The second factor is selecting this commission was that we needed people here with experience and a strong understanding of our government,” Lounsbury said.

Republicans also expressed concerns that to add to the commission now would require having new members join a panel that has already had discussions and would have held their first public hearing and second meeting before the council could vote on any changes.

Furthermore, several officials and residents expressed concerns that a large panel consisting of more than twice as many commissioners in 2008 had a difficult time concentrating discussions and coming to votes due in large part to the size of the appointed board.

So what are your thoughts? Should the town consider appointing new members to the commission? Is it time to move forward with the members appointed? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.

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