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WESTON, Conn. Weston residents soon will be able to vote on the recommended changes to the town charter after the Weston Charter Revision Commission released a tentative draft earlier this week.
The charter is a series of citizen-approved regulations on appointed officials' general powers, term limits, election processes and the duties of various boards and commissions. The current charter can be found here.
Since last spring, the commission, which has been led by Selectman Dennis Tracey, has been revisiting the contents of the charter and coming to a consensus on sections that should be changed, updated or made more readable. There have been numerous meetings and a few public hearings on the commission's work, allowing residents to voice their opinions.
In an email from the commission, members Tracey and Ken Edger wrote, As the report makes clear, these are only the substantive changes, and they are subject to revision based on the input that we receive from the community and our further review.
The complete text of the proposed changes can be viewed either by downloading this articles attachment or through the towns website.
Some of the changes proposed include making the town clerk and tax collector appointed positions, rather than elected officials. According to the documents, The majority of commission members felt that changing these positions to appointed positions, just like the position of town administrator, would best serve the needs of the town in the long run.
The commission also would like to bump up the date of the Weston Annual Town Budget Meeting to May in order to give town boards more time for deliberations.
These changes have not yet been voted on by the commission, but they represent the sense of the commission at this point. In most cases, but not all, the recommendations represent the unanimous sense of the commission, pending further input from the public and discussion among the commissioners, the document states.
The commission also states that more changes are expected to be made public, although they are either minor or non-substantive, including stylistic and organizational changes that are intended to make the charter more clear and concise.
The commission encourages the entire community to read this memorandum and provide any comments to the commission. Members of the public may attend any meeting or may send comments by email to Kenneth Edgar at simick54@gmail.com or Dennis Tracey at d.h.tracey@gmail.com.
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