Sam Gurwitt File Photo
Charter panel’s Jay Kaye: Tell us what you think.
Dramatic changes may be in store for how Hamden governs itself.
Voters will have a chance this November to ratify those changes.
A commission working on a once-in-a-decade revision of the town charter decided at a meeting Thursday night that it wants to create a four-year term for mayor.
The commission also endorsed management and financial reforms by creating a chief operating officer or town administrator to assist the mayor in day-to-day operations of the government; and the creation of a finance commission to provide analysis of budget proposals when submitted by the mayor to the Legislative Council.
These proposals are subject to final action by the Commission, a public hearing and final action by the Legislative Council, which is responsible for proposing the final question on the general election ballot in November.
Like other municipalities, Hamden creates a commission every ten years to consider changes to its charter, which operates like the U.S. Constitution. It sets the rules for how government creates laws and governs.
This is the once-a-decade moment in Hamden. It set up a commission last September. The commission has been working hard since then to consider proposed changes to put before voters in November.
Also like some other municipalities, Hamden has been grappling with long-term fiscal problems as well as ongoing debates about how much power to grant its mayor or legislative branch.
The town currently has a two-year term for mayor. As in New Haven, some people in town argue that gives a mayor too little time to get work done before resuming campaigning. Others argue the short term provides voters an important check on mayors who mess up.
The decision to move in the direction of a four-year term was based on testimony from two panels of municipal officials who appeared before the commission.
The commission reached consensus to have its counsel. Steven Mednick, present them with two other proposals to add more checks on the mayor. (Click here for a previous article and radio interview about the work Mednick has done for decades advising local governments on charter changes.)
One possible check: Stagger the election of members of the Legislative Council so that the election would give the voters an additional check on a reckless or irresponsible behavior of a mayor, or just based on concerns about the direction of the town.
Hamden Charter Commission meeting Thursday night.
That could be accomplished by keep a two-year term for the Legislative Council; splitting the election process so that mayor and council are elected in different cycles; or splitting the election of the at-large and district council members. (In other words, the at-large council members could be elected in one cycle, with district representatives another.)
Another possible check: Creating a new Finance Commission.
This five-member body would include people with backgrounds in municipal finance. Three members would be appointed by the Legislative Council president and two by the mayor, subject to approval of the council. When the mayor proposes a budget, rather than sending it directly to the Legislative Council for final review and approval, the mayor would send it to this Finance Commission first.
The commission would take a few weeks to comb through the proposed budget to answer questions like: Does it comply with law? Does it follow Generally Accepted Accounting Principles or other similar regulatory guidelines? Does it put enough overtime in, say, the police budget to meet contractual obligations? Does it mean actuarial standards for funding pensions?
Then the Legislative Council would consider the budget with these independent assessments, recommendations or admonitions as a guide.
“The Finance Commission will say, ‘OK, the mayor fudged this number; the mayor is not telling the truth,’” Mednick said as an example of how the new system would work
Jackie Downing, a member of the charter review panel, said that in her vision of the plan, the Finance Commission would not make suggestions of whether to provide departments with more or less funding, but would rather point out potential places where the budget was unrealistic.
“I don’t think the Finance Commission should make suggestions like, ‘We need less going to the fire department, less in parks and rec,’” Downing said. “The Finance Commission is going to tell us if the revenue estimates are realistic and also if the expense estimates are realistic.”
Another possible check: Creating a new “chief operating officer” with independence from the mayor.
This idea emerged from three separate ideas for how to inject more fiscal accountability in government. The three possibilities: Keep the current system. Switch to a town manager form of government, in which an unelected staffer, not the mayor, oversees day-to-day financial and management decisions. Or this third idea, a chief operating officer (COO) to oversee day-today financial and management decisions but with the “strong mayor” system still in place.
The COO would need to have professional credentials and be approved by the Legislative Council. The COO would report to the mayor but be able to be terminated only for cause, with the approval of the Legislative Council. And the COO’s term would run a year beyond the mayor’s term, so a new mayor would need to work with an independent person on finances.
Mednick has been instructed to draft a proposal for this third COO option. But the charter commission will review that and the other proposed changes in upcoming meetings before deciding what in the end to place on the November ballot.
Jay Kaye, chair of the communications subcommittee of the charter commission, urged citizens to join the conversation by offering ideas for change.
“You don’t really have a chance to draft the framework for the way the town is run that often,” Kaye said. “This is the chance. Whether you are happy with the town or unhappy with the town or whatever, now is your time to talk, to let us know what you would like to see in the charter.”
Hamden residents interested in adding their input to the charter should email crc2021@hamden.com or attend a meeting. The next meeting is Wednesday, March 31 at 7 p.m. on Zoom.
Emily DiSalvo contributed to this article.