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Committee debates ordinance to place a council member on Board of Estimate and Taxation, defers for redraft
Summary
Norwalk's ordinance committee discussed an ordinance to designate a council member as a nonvoting ex‑officio on the Board of Estimate and Taxation; members debated term length, whether a designee should be allowed, appointment timing and whether the charter allows mandatory appointments. The committee deferred the item for counsel redrafting.
The Norwalk City ordinance committee on Feb. 17 debated an ordinance that would allow the council president to designate one council member as an ex‑officio, nonvoting representative to the Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET) and deferred the draft for further legal drafting.
An attorney filling in for city counsel said the draft was prepared by Attorney Brian Candela and cited the charter provision that authorizes the council to designate a representative (charter section 7‑2(a)(1)(c)). The attorney read that "the council representative shall be entitled to participate in all proceedings of the board" and that the representative’s term is "established by ordinance" and begins on Feb. 1, according to the charter text the attorney displayed.
Council members raised multiple drafting questions. Some asked whether the ordinance should set objective qualifications for the council appointee; others warned that rigid requirements could pose practical problems for future councils. Members discussed whether the ordinance should explicitly permit a council member’s designee to attend BET meetings when the appointee cannot, and several members favored specifying in the ordinance that the representative "shall be entitled to participate in all proceedings of the board of estimate and taxation."
Timing and oversight were central concerns. Council members proposed one‑year or two‑year terms as a way to periodically reassess the appointee’s service and ensure continuity during BET’s budget work in February. One proposal would have the council president nominate a representative at the first meeting in January, provide seven days' notice to the council and have the council vote by the second meeting in January so a representative is in place for BET’s February schedule.
Seed said the committee was not ready to vote on the ordinance and asked staff to relay members’ drafting points to Attorney Candela for revision. The committee will return to the item at a future meeting after counsel prepares redrafts and clarifying language.
What remained unresolved: whether an ordinance should make the appointment mandatory or permissive ("may" vs. "shall"), the exact term length, and whether the ordinance should treat the role like a standing committee assignment with replacement mechanics borrowed from council rules.
