New Canaan CRC votes 7–4 to retain town counsel for charter review

The New Canaan Charter Revision Commission voted to retain the town's existing law firm to provide legal counsel to the commission, rejecting a proposal to hire separate outside counsel.

Commissioners spent an extended period debating whether using the town's counsel would raise an appearance-of-bias problem for a body charged with reviewing the municipal charter. Supporters of a separate counsel argued the commission would gain both credibility and the perception of independence by hiring an outside firm; opponents stressed the time and cost of selecting and onboarding new counsel on the commission's compressed schedule.

One commissioner framed the core concern as "credibility of being independent," saying the CRC "doesn't want to get involved" in litigated local controversies and should avoid any appearance of partiality. Opponents of change said town counsel had been responsive and would notify the commission if any conflict arose.

The motion to retain Birch and Moses as counsel for the CRC was moved, seconded and carried in a hand vote recorded by the chair as 7 in favor, 4 opposed. The chair said the result and the opposing views would be captured in the minutes and that the commission could retain outside counsel later if a specific conflict or need emerged.

Town Attorney Nick Bamonte, participating for the town, told the commission he expected to perform the role of legal adviser narrowly: "our role is...is it legal or not," and added that he would inform the CRC if he believed a conflict existed.

The vote followed multiple interventions from commissioners who said they valued both the practical advantages of the town's lawyer and the need to avoid actual or perceived conflicts. The commission moved on after the recorded result and continued its other business.