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Charter Revision Commission readies draft, sets July 25 public hearing; commissioners tweak elections, town clerk and bonding thresholds
Summary
The Danbury City Charter Revision Commission reviewed technical and substantive edits across the draft charter, agreed to move municipal terms to four years (with transitional stagger for the Board of Education), proposed making the town clerk appointed with merit-system protections, raised the bonding referendum threshold to $5,000,000 and incorporated the city code of ethics by reference; a public hearing is set for July 25.
Danbury City — The Charter Revision Commission completed a chapter-by-chapter review of a revised charter draft and set a public hearing for Thursday, July 25, at 7:00 p.m., with plans to reconvene immediately afterward to act on adopting the draft for transmittal to the town clerk and city council.
The commission agreed to several substantive changes summarized by staff: municipal elected terms will change to four years beginning in 2027 with a transitional schedule for the Board of Education (six members elected in 2027 to four-year terms, five members in 2029 to two-year transitional terms); the draft moves toward making the town clerk an appointed position subject to merit-system protections for assistants and employees and requires statutory or ordinance-based qualifications for the clerk’s office.
On financial governance and transparency, commissioners retained a provision (discussed at length with the superintendent) that would allow one designated city finance employee access to school financial books for audit purposes; that language will remain "shall" in the draft, accompanied by carve-outs and data‑privacy safeguards. The commission also discussed and approved raising the threshold for city acceptance of donations requiring council action to $5,000 and increasing the bonding referendum threshold to $5,000,000 to reflect modern project costs.
Other changes included department name modernizations (for example, renaming Parks and Recreation to Department of Recreation), technical edits to notice and meeting rules to align with state statute, and incorporation of the Danbury code of ethics by reference into the charter's conflicts/ethics section after public concerns.
Staff and counsel will incorporate the recorded editorial corrections, confirm statutory citations and circulate a revised draft for the public hearing. The commission stressed that most changes are technical proofreading and that attorneys have authority to finalize numbering and punctuation before publication. The hearing is scheduled for July 25 at 7:00 p.m.; the commission plans to act immediately after the hearing so the city can meet council agenda deadlines.
