Sherri Steeneck and James Walshs time is up. The two members of Fairfields Board of Selectmen had until Thursday to choose a replacement for former First Selectman Kenneth Flatto. At their third and final discussion Wednesday evening, they once again could not agree on a candidate.
Steeneck, filling the role of acting first selectman until the town names a replacement, once again pushed for the Democratic Town Committees endorsed candidate, Board of Finance member Michael Tetreau. Walsh, the boards Republican member, again refused to accept Tetreau, who is running for the office in Novembers election.
Steeneck insisted on following the process that put both of them on the Board of Selectmen. Both were appointed after the deaths of board members in the past four years.
In the past, for everybody including you and including me the party has recommended somebody, Steeneck told Walsh.
Flatto stepped down May 3 to become the states executive director of the Division of Special Revenue. The town charter states that Walsh and Steeneck had 30 days to pick a replacement before the matter went to a special election. The decision now rests with a panel of 17 elected Democrats, including Steeneck, members of the Representative Town Meeting and Democratic Registrar of Voters Matthew Waggner.
All of those officials are on the Democratic Town Committee and took part in the unanimous vote to nominate Tetreau for the job in April. Tetreau said after Wednesdays meeting that the matter should be resolved as soon as possible, with major issues such as maintaining the towns bond rating and finishing the new train station coming up this summer.
Town Attorney Richard Saxl said the panel would have to meet in public to make its decision. It also has 30 days to name a candidate. But even after the choice is made, Fairfields residents will have 15 days to collect the signatures of 5 percent of the town's registered voters on a petition for a special referendum to name a new chief executive.
Walsh said the controversy points out a problem in the towns charter. He said he had hoped to change it to make a townwide special election the first step. This has been a complete waste of time, Walsh said. This decision is always going to come up the exact same way.
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