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West Haven council unanimously restores ‘administrative assistant’ titles for registrar office pending state review
Summary
After hours of public comment and internal debate, the City Council voted unanimously to amend the 2025–26 budget to temporarily reinstate two positions in the registrar’s office as “administrative assistant” and asked the registrar to supply job details for a state determination by July 3.
The West Haven City Council voted unanimously June 23 to amend the 2025–26 approved budget to temporarily restore two positions in the registrar of voters office to the title “administrative assistant,” pending a formal review by the Connecticut Secretary of State.
The measure requires the Republican registrar of voters to provide the corporation counsel with a detailed list of the positions’ duties by July 3 so the corporation counsel can request an official state determination on whether the job descriptions comply with Title 9 of the Connecticut General Statutes. Council members approved the motion after public comments and an executive-session discussion of personnel matters.
The decision followed public remarks from Joanne Callegary, the Republican registrar of voters, who told the council an assistant registrar “has no authority whatsoever to sign any documents in our office” and said only the registrar is authorized to sign certain records. In contrast, Sherry Lepper, the Democratic registrar of voters, said appointing an assistant was within her rights and emphasized that the residency requirement for an assistant registrar stems from state statute: “This is about statute, state statute, and the law doesn’t change depending on what someone is labeled in a spreadsheet.”
Councilwoman Dawn Callahan, who spoke during debate, said the council had spent extensive time reviewing the matter during the budget process and denied any political motive: “We did not take this lightly… We have no political agenda. We just want to do what is asked of us.”
Clerk-read language of the motion directs the registrar to provide the corporation counsel office with the job-responsibility list by July 3, 2025; the corporation counsel will request a determination from the Secretary of State. The council recorded the motion and then conducted a roll-call vote; the clerk announced, “Motion carries unanimously.”
Next steps: registrar Joanne Callegary was asked to coordinate with the corporation counsel on the documentation the office will provide. The council did not adopt permanent job-classification changes; it adopted a temporary title change and asked the city’s legal team to seek a state-level ruling before further action.
The council’s action was recorded in the minutes for the June 23 meeting and will be followed by the corporation counsel’s request to state officials. The council did not set a formal deadline for action beyond the July 3 submission date for job descriptions.
