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Charter Revision Commission approves budget request, plans public questionnaire to collect views through March
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Summary
The CRC approved budget requests to send to the Board of Selectmen and agreed to launch a public questionnaire (SurveyMonkey) in mid-January to gather charter-related input, with technical/FOIA procedures to be clarified and name/email required.
The Charter Revision Commission approved a budget package to forward to the Board of Selectmen and finalized plans to collect public input through a structured online questionnaire.
Commissioners agreed to submit an appropriation request of approximately $50,000 for the current fiscal year plus a similar contingency amount for the next fiscal cycle, for a combined plan that would cover consultant costs if needed. The chair said the requests would be sent to the Board of Selectmen this week in advance of the next Selectmen meeting (Jan. 6).
On public engagement, commissioners approved a questionnaire to be hosted through SurveyMonkey and discussed mechanics for launch and moderation. The planned timeline was to publish the questionnaire around Jan. 13 and keep it open through March; staff would provide mid-process updates at commission meetings and finalize an analysis in mid-March. "We were thinking to leave it open just generally speaking until March," one organizer said when presenting the draft timeline.
The group debated data quality and FOIA exposure: options discussed included requiring name and email (agreed), making street address optional, reviewing IP addresses to reduce duplicate submissions, and adding a FOIA disclaimer. The commission asked staff to confirm SurveyMonkey licensing mechanics and whether administrators can separate identifying information from questionnaire responses for aggregate reporting. Commissioners also discussed precedents, noting a prior survey for the town—s POCD used a third-party vendor and had broad outreach and higher participation.
The commission asked staff to include an option for respondents to allow follow-up contact and to place a notice in the questionnaire that submissions are subject to FOIA and public records rules. The commission also discussed outreach channels (town newsletter, NewCanaanite, Sentinel, library, Chamber of Commerce) to broaden participation beyond those already engaged in charter work.
Next steps: staff will confirm technical settings and FOIA language, post the questionnaire link on the CRC page, and report interim return rates at subsequent meetings.
