Danbury hearing lays out competing views on four‑year mayoral term, council size, ethics and borrowing limits

The City of Danbury’s Charter Revision Commission held a public hearing on April 30 to gather resident input on a range of proposed changes to the municipal charter, including whether to extend elected terms from two years to four, adjust the city council’s composition, raise the mayor’s borrowing threshold and add ethics provisions.

Chairman Britton opened the meeting at 7:00 p.m., read the published public notice and cited Connecticut General Statutes Section 7-191 as the procedural basis for the hearing. He told attendees the commission would listen and would not engage in back-and‑forth during the public comment period.

Residents and local officials offered a mix of support and caution. Several speakers, including Holly Robinson (2nd Ward), Ryan Hawley (speaking as a private citizen and city council member), Andrea Gardner (5th Ward) and others, asked the commission to consider modernizing the charter: adding an ethics and conflict‑of‑interest process, updating job‑description language for departmental officers, allowing digital publication of public notices, and creating administrative clarity…