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West Haven leaders set tight schedule for 2026 charter revision, aim for November referendum
Summary
City attorneys and council discussed an accelerated timeline for the Charter Revision Commission so proposed charter changes — including possible four-year terms — can appear on the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot; council agreed to set appointment and report deadlines and to seat the CRC at a public meeting soon.
City legal counsel and councilors on Feb. 26 outlined an aggressive timetable for the 2026 Charter Revision Commission (CRC) designed to get proposed charter amendments on the November ballot.
Trey Cassini, speaking for city counsel, said the schedule must work backward from the Nov. 3 general election and meet statutory transmission deadlines to the secretary of state. "Sixty days before the election is when information needs to be transmitted to the secretary of state to be put on a ballot," Cassini said, noting the practical necessity of using every available day in the statutory windows and that procedural errors could later unwind the commission’s work.
Council members discussed the scope the CRC should focus on and cautioned against repeating 2020’s approach of including too many changes in a single question. Several councilors said they favored prioritizing a short list of high-impact items — notably the proposal to extend certain elected terms from two to four years — because including dozens of changes risks losing voter support. Attorney Cassini told the council it may recommend how to group questions but the CRC has statutory autonomy to draft the referendum questions; the council may set the deadline by which the CRC must submit its final report.
The council reviewed statutory timing mechanics discussed by counsel: the CRC must hold at least one public hearing before substantive drafting, the CRC will then produce a draft and hold additional hearings, and the council has a 45-day window after receiving the CRC final proposal to hold its final public hearing. Cassini said the statutory maximum timeframe for a CRC report is 16 months, but the city does not have that long for a November 2026 ballot. Council members confirmed a 30-day window to appoint commissioners following their earlier vote to create the CRC and discussed March calendar dates to seat the commission (the council noted March 11 as a statutory outside date to appoint commissioners). The chair indicated he would hold a public seating meeting on the coming Monday to fulfill the appointment requirement.
Councilors also asked about financial and operational impacts if the CRC recommended structural changes such as creating a city manager; counsel and mayor said finance staff would be pulled in to advise the commission if requested, noting salary levels are set separately by the council even if positions are established in the charter. Several councilors urged a clear public-outreach strategy so voters understand any referendum questions on the ballot.
The council did not finalize every scheduling detail at the special meeting but agreed to move forward with appointment and report deadlines to meet the election calendar.
