Fire department urges charter clarifications on succession, discipline and marshal authority
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Summary
Fire department leaders told the Charter Review Commission that the town charter should be updated to reflect current practice: prioritize the paid assistant chief in succession, reference collective-bargaining procedures for discipline, and cite state statute for the fire marshal’s authority.
Fire department leaders met with Group 2 of the Charter Review Commission and recommended targeted charter language changes to reflect current staffing and disciplinary practice.
The volunteer assistant fire chief, who identified himself for the record and disclosed 27 years of volunteer service, said the succession clause in C8-4(a) should name the paid (career) assistant chief first as acting chief in a vacancy because the department now has a career assistant chief. "It makes sense...that the paid full time person should take over those duties as the chief in the absence of the chief," he said.
Commission members and department leaders also discussed C8-4(c)(4), the provision that permits the commission to "remove or suspend without payment of wages" an employee after a hearing on written charges. Fire leadership described the practical process: investigations and proposed discipline are handled at the HR and management level, with HR and career leadership determining suspensions; employees may then grieve under the collective-bargaining agreement and, if unresolved, bring the matter to the commission. One participant said, "Written stuff happens at the HR level," and recommended the charter reference the relevant collective-bargaining/grievance procedure rather than restating detailed disciplinary steps in the charter.
On the fire marshal role, department representatives recommended explicitly citing state statute in the sentence that grants the marshal the powers imposed "by law or by ordinance of the town," noting that some marshal authority derives from Connecticut statute as well as local ordinance. "The fire marshal actually derives their authority and responsibility through the state," a department representative said.
Commissioners asked whether the fire commission should expand from three to five members. Officials described trade-offs: a five-member panel can provide broader perspectives, but a three-member panel is more agile and easier to convene. No formal recommendation was recorded during the interview.
The department also discussed standards used to evaluate adequacy of protection — including NFPA guidance, response times, call volume and the ISO insurance rating — and noted that local decisions (for example, whether to add a second firehouse on the North End) involve trade-offs of cost and coverage. Leaders said they report to both the commission and the First Selectman and coordinate with EMS and police on multi-agency incidents.
The CRC thanked the department representatives and invited written follow-up via the CRC group email. The group adjourned its fire-commission interview and moved to the next scheduled session.
