Brookfield’s newly appointed, seven-member Charter Revision Commission will have an organizational kickoff on Monday at 7 p.m. in Town Hall, Room 209.
Town Clerk Joan Locke will swear in the commission members, and then there will be an election of officers. First Selectman Bill Tinsley will then offer a presentation of the Board of Selectmen’s charge that includes asking the commission to begin looking at certain areas, including bifurcating the town and school budgets so that taxpayers can vote on those budgets separately at the referendum. In addition, the commission will be asked to consider requirements related to whether or not the charter can better prescribe a method to remove an elected official from their position, as well as consider allowing the Zoning Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals to appoint members to fill vacancies on those elected boards.
The commission is not scripted to just what the selectmen wish to considers, but the Board of Selectmen does have the ability to select what revisions will be forwarded to the voters. The goal for this commission is for a draft recommendation to be made to the selectmen by April so that revisions can be included on the November election ballot.
The commission will have public comment, and will set up initial public hearings and meeting schedule.
The seven members of the commission are: Republicans George Walker, Matt Grimes, Stanley Parker and Fred Ball, Democrats Dan Smolnik and Jon Van Hise and Unaffiliated Linda Wagner.