Public Addresses Charter Revision Commission

WINSTED — The first public hearing of Winsted's new Charter Revision Commission opened Wednesday night at Town Hall, with about 40 residents in attendance to discuss proposed changes to the town's system of governance, including eliminating the town manager form of government.

Five of the seven-member Winchester Board of Selectmen attended, along with a number of former officials, including town elder Tony Cannavo, a former mayor who was on the board in the 1960s when the town adopted its current governmental system.

"In the 1960s, the reason we adopted the town manager system was very simple," Cannavo said. "We were running a business." Previously, he said, boards elected every two years, who were in charge of all the town's business, would end up firing municipal employees every two years, micromanaging the town's business and creating chaos at Town Hall. Cannavo noted that in Southington the current town manager has been in place for 23 years and that Winsted should look to other towns for direction.

Winsted's most recent town manager controversy came when the current Board of Selectmen decided along party lines to fire Democratic Town Manager Owen Quinn. The Republican-led board replaced Quinn with a temporary interim manager, Republican Bruce Gresczyk of New Hartford.

Quinn's departure is just the latest in long string of turnovers in the town manager's office. The town has had 20 different town managers in the past 20 years, with many managers ousted at the will of political parties following municipal elections.

The new Republican-led Board of Selectmen has suggested that Winsted return to a strong mayoral form of government, but most people who spoke Wednesday night appeared to prefer just the opposite.

Resident Mark Schrader told the commission that he believes there is a possible conflict of interest when elected officials push for making their own positions more powerful. He added that he thinks a requirement that Winsted's town manager must live in Winsted should finally be stricken from the charter.

"I don't believe we should ever have ourselves in a position where we can remove a town manager for any personal bias or political reasons," he added.

Democratic selectmen Candy Perez and Michael Renzullo also rose in defense of the town manager form of government, calling instead for the town manager position to be strengthened. Several speakers concurred with the idea to make the position contractual and require selectmen to provide proper justification for removing a town manager. Civil Service Commissioner Porter "Skip" Griffin added that he believes more specific requirements for the job should be outlined in the charter.

Republican Selectman David Cappabianca rose to support a strong mayoral form of government, noting that the town manager's office has had a revolving door since it was established.

"If we had that kind of system and it was workiing, we wouldn't have brought this issue forward," he said. "To me, the system clearly doesn't work."

Cappabianca noted that the Charter Revision Commission's charge is not to make the changes, but to suggest them to the Board of Selectmen, which would in turn ask for further revisions or send the recommendations to a town referendum for approval. The selectman also noted that a residency requirement for the town manager has been sustained in three previous votes.

Griffin noted that the most recent vote was in favor of removing the provision, but that the total number of voters was not sufficient to make the charter change.

The town manager's position was not the only item discussed Wednesday night, as members of the community asked for changes to Water and Sewer, Public Works and Board of Education provisions.

Highland Lake resident Dick Labich said he believes the Charter Revision Commission should suggest creating a finance board separate from the Board of Selectmen to handle annual budgetary issues.

"I've seen too many meetings where we've spent quite a bit of time with line item adjustments," he said.

Toward the end of the meeting residents discussed the idea of putting a mandate in the charter that would make the candidate with the most votes in each municipal election the town's first selectman/mayor. Though the position is largely ceremonial, it does include setting the agenda and running meetings, as well as serving as a liaison to other towns.

Commission Chairman Kathy O'Brien said Wednesday's meeting was organized for the purpose of getting public input only and that the commission's deliberations will begin at its first regular meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 22, at 6:30 p.m.

In the meantime, residents can address suggestions and concerns to the commission in writing to O'Brien in care of the Mayor's Office, 338 Main St., Winsted, CT 06098.