West Haven council elects Christopher Vargo as chair; keeps public-comment limit at three minutes

The West Haven City Council elected Christopher Vargo as its chairman and confirmed a slate of organizational items at an organizational meeting, including the appointment and swearing-in of Stacy Riccio as council clerk. The council rejected an amendment to extend public-comment periods to five minutes and approved the rules as written, keeping the limit at three minutes.

The meeting opened with introductions of temporary clerk Stacy Riccio and City Clerk John Lewis. After a motion to elect the council chair was made and seconded, the new chair took the dais and delivered remarks thanking colleagues and praising recent city accomplishments credited to the mayor and council. "I promise to work hard every day to make sure that we do right by the residents," the new chairman said.

The council then addressed leadership and staffing. Council members announced Edward McMillan as majority leader. The council moved and approved the appointment of Stacy Riccio as council clerk; City Clerk John Lewis administered the oath of office, which included the pledge "to support the constitution of The United States, the constitution of the state of Connecticut, the charter of the city of West Haven, and that you will faithfully discharge according to the law the duties of the office of council clerk of the City Of West Haven to the best of your abilities." Riccio responded, "Yes. I do."

A substantive debate that followed focused on public-comment time limits. Councilwoman Melly Garthwaite said she "is not in agreement with putting the public speaking time to 3 minutes," arguing that five minutes allows constituents more opportunity to speak. The chair explained the three-minute limit "was not in any way intended to stifle public comment" and that the chair retains discretion to extend time when the speaker or subject matter warrants it.

An amended motion to change the public-comment time to five minutes was put to a roll-call vote and failed. Recorded votes on that amendment show Melly Garthwaite and Dawn Callahan voting yes and a majority voting no; the chair announced the amendment did not pass. The council then voted on approving the rules as written (retaining a three-minute limit). The roll-call vote on that motion passed 11–2, with the transcript recording 11 yes votes and 2 no votes.

The chair said he would appoint standing committees and liaisons and would email and post the full committee list with the city clerk. He also announced a special regular meeting would be scheduled for "next Monday, the fifteenth," to conduct business; the transcript did not specify the month. Members requested hard copies of committee assignments and the charter; staff agreed to mail and email those materials.

The meeting concluded after a short logistics discussion and a motion to adjourn.

Votes at a glance • Amendment to change public comment to five minutes: failed (roll call; recorded yes: Melly Garthwaite, Dawn Callahan; recorded majority no; motion did not pass). • Approval of council rules as written (three-minute public-comment limit): passed (roll call 11–2; transcript records 11 yes, 2 no).

What happens next The chair will distribute committee assignments and liaisons by email and to the city clerk for posting. The council scheduled a special regular meeting "the fifteenth" (exact date not specified in the transcript).