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Commission weighs which appointed boards to keep in charter; public audience and attendance rules eyed for change
Summary
The Charter Revision Commission reviewed dozens of appointed boards and commissions, asked staff to verify which are required by state law, and discussed adding mandatory public-audience rules and a removal process for inactive appointees.
At its July 7 meeting the Simsbury Charter Revision Commission began a systematic review of appointed boards and commissions, asking staff and counsel to confirm which bodies must appear in the town charter under state law and which can be moved to ordinance.
Commission staff presented a chart listing each appointed body, meeting frequency, membership counts and currently cited terms. Commissioners asked staff and the town attorney to verify required membership sizes and statutory terms for entities such as the Housing Authority and Historic District Commission, both of which are governed by state law, and the Water Pollution Control Authority, whose powers are referenced to Conn. Gen. Stat. ch. 103.
Commissioners identified a smaller set of bodies that are squarely within the commission’s discretion — for example, the Economic Development Commission, the open-space committee, and design-review groups — and discussed whether those belong in the charter or instead in town ordinance. Several commissioners said that if a body is moved out of the charter, the Board of Selectmen can still create and define it by ordinance, and the ordinance-setting body would control terms and appointments going forward.
The commission also discussed standardizing attendance and removal rules. Paul, a commission member, offered proposed language allowing a board chair to recommend removal to the Board of Selectmen; that removal would require the affirmative vote of at least four selectmen if an appointee has missed three consecutive regular meetings or more than 40% of meetings in the prior 12 months. Commission members said the Board of Selectmen acting on recommendations preserves the appointing authority while addressing chronic nonattendance.
Multiple commissioners and members of the public urged stronger requirements for public engagement. Paul proposed a short addition requiring that "all elected and appointed boards and commissions as part of their procedures shall allow for public audience at all regular meetings" (special meetings excepted), with individual boards setting time limits and other procedural rules. Commissioners discussed carve-outs for land-use bodies — noting that planning and zoning public hearings carry statutory notice requirements and that an un‑noticed speech on a pending application can be treated as an illegal public hearing.
The commission voted to defer final action on the appointed-boards list and asked staff to return with verified statutory citations, membership counts and recommendations for which bodies should remain in the charter. The group scheduled follow-up work and said it will revisit public‑audience language and the removal rule at its next meeting.
