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Danbury Charter Revision Commission reviews multiple draft edits; minutes approved and meeting adjourned
Summary
The commission reviewed numerous charter updates — including bond limits, Town Clerk appointment language, departmental name changes, reapportionment timing and Legislative Assistant protections — accepted the June 10 minutes (6–0–1) and adjourned after directing counsel to make technical edits.
At its June 17, 2026 meeting the City of Danbury Charter Revision Commission reviewed a range of proposed edits across the draft city charter and directed counsel to make technical and grammatical changes before the next draft.
Commissioners discussed raising officials' bond limits from $3 million to $5 million; the increase was explained as an inflationary adjustment based on prior replacement-cost comparisons. The commission confirmed the Town Clerk office staff are union-represented and agreed to amend language to reflect that. The Department of Parks and Recreation was discussed and the director confirmed the department now goes by the Department of Recreation.
On elections and terms, counsel and Chair Britton clarified that the charter’s four-year terms would take effect with the 2027 municipal election and that a finalized charter would be effective 30 days after passage by referendum. Reapportionment timing was discussed and tied to the decennial Census cycle; commissioners noted the next full review would follow the 2030 Census and occur around 2031.
The commission considered protections for the Legislative Assistant position, including symmetric appointment and removal language and a proposed 2/3 threshold for dismissal "with cause" to reduce politicization; commissioners did not object to adding that language pending counsel review. Committee residency requirements were debated but the commission declined to add a broad residency requirement to boards and commissions.
Section 7-9 expenditure and accounting language prompted discussion about replacing mandatory "shall" wording with permissive "may" in some places; Commissioner Safranek urged caution about mandatory wording that could have excessive repercussions. A new conflicts-of-interest subsection was added to cross-reference the City's Code of Ethics; the chair agreed to retitle the section to include "Ethics." Chair Britton gave a brief report on next steps and confirmed counsel would make grammatical edits.
Votes at a glance: The Commission approved the minutes from June 10, 2026 (motion by Commissioner Safranek, seconded by Commissioner Putnam) by a 6–0–1 vote (one abstention by Commissioner Isabel C. Almeida). The meeting adjourned at 9:02 p.m. following a motion by Commissioner Mary Jean Rebeiro, seconded by Commissioner Glenda M. Armstrong; the motion carried unanimously.
The Commission scheduled counsel follow-up and planned to reconvene on June 25 after the public hearing to continue work on the Proposed Draft.
