Reducing RTM may affect Fairfield charter revision
FAIRFIELD — The Charter Revision Commission has sent its changes to the selectmen, but it seems decreasing the size of the Representative Town Meeting has stuck out as a possible non-starter.
The changes include bringing the RTM from 40 members to 30 members. While the charter allows for 56 members, the RTM voted to limit it to 40 in 2015.
Proponents of the further downsize say it would make the legislative body more accountable and cut back on redundancies, opponents say the current size is best to represent the number of people in town.
The main sticking point for some is the change to the RTM size, now that the proposal no longer includes minority party representation, which would have mandated one member per RTM district be from a minority party.
Steven Mednick, the attorney the town hired to assist in the charter revision process, said he has done about 30 charter revisions in Connecticut — most of which have been approved by voters. He said the partisanship he has seen during the process in Fairfield concerns him.
“There's very little partisan stuff, very little in the way of partisan content, in this document,” he said. “My hope would be that, since we've passed the skirmish on [minority party representation], that the Democrats will look at it and say, ‘This is a much better document. This is where we want to go with the future. We'll fight other battles elsewhere.”'
What would this change mean?
The Board of Selectmen can now approve or reject the draft completely, or approve or reject parts of it. The selectmen can also send sections back to the commission to work on, Mednick said.
The commission's current recommendations will be presented to the BOS on June 27.
Whatever comes out of that process, Mednick said, the BOS would then have to come up with questions about the charter to put on November's ballot for residents to approve. Certain charter questions will be bundled together, he said, while others will stand alone. Those questions are due to the state by the first week of September.
He said the town could describe the changes to residents using an explanatory text.
“That would be a chapter by chapter, article by article review of what was done in the document,” he said.
If residents approve the proposed charter in its entirety, Mednick said, certain changes will go into effect immediately, while others would become official at the appropriate time.
For example, if the size of the RTM is decreased to 30, the current members would not have to draw straws. The new size would become effective for the next RTM election — in this case November 2023.
“Any enhanced powers for any elected officials would probably be for the next election cycle,” Mednick said. “Things like definitions and civility and all those types of changes, would be effective immediately.”
Mednick noted downsizing to 30 members does not impact the districts. There would still be 10 RTM districts — each with three representatives instead of four.
Mednick said redistricting, which became an issue in recent months as officials debated whether to wait for the charter revision to finish before proceeding on the matter, would not be impacted by the charter. Mednick said he did recommend an alternate system for redistricting that would include people who were unaffiliated, but it was never included in the charter.
“I thought that the current system is awfully partisan,” he said.
Current size is too large
Amy Ruggiero, a Republican RTM member from District 1, said 30 sounds like a good size to her, although she would never want to go lower than that. She said the current size of the RTM is large and unwieldy.
“I think that there's a lot of repetition,” she said of RTM meetings. “Unfortunately, since the new term started, it's [been] very divisive. A lot of the votes are going strictly by party lines, so you keep getting the reiteration of all 22 [Democrat] members or whatever it is saying the same exact thing.”
Ruggiero, a second term member, said cutting down the RTM membership would at least serve to cut down on the representatives making similar statements one after another. She said she will support whatever is best for the voters.
Frank Petise, a Republican representing District 10 in the RTM, said he would like to see the RTM change go through. He said the size of the body almost diminishes its role, adding a smaller body would assist in decreasing partisanship.
“It would help us to get to know each other better. There's more accountability that way too,” he said, adding he is curious how many residents know their RTM representatives. “If you have less people, there's more focus on that body as a whole. When you're out and about talking to people there's more accountability as opposed to if you are part of a larger group.”
Current size best serves the people
Bill Gerber, a Democrat from District 2, said he is very much against the change, and believes the size of the RTM should be self-regulated by its members.
“The RTM does regulate based on their needs, and they've done it,” he said, referencing the 2015 change.
Gerber said that the four RTM members per district represent approximately 1,550 residents, which he thinks is a necessary number to help that many people. He noted that some prominent town conservatives have written or spoken out against the possibility of a smaller RTM, so he does not see it as a partisan issue.
He said having four members in a district allows for different opinions and backgrounds that those representatives bring to the table.
Gerber said it also helps to have that many members because it allows them to shift the workload around when their individual lives get busy. He said pairing it down would be like professionalizing the body, and that is not what the RTM is supposed to be.
The fourth spot also tends to be won by political outsiders who want to make change, Gerber said, adding every member also helps represent their specific neighborhood.
“It's like people who get motivated by issues...and run,” he said. “But, if you have to go and bow down to the party and go to cocktails and get money and all that, a lot of people aren't going to get involved in that. They just want to get on and start doing good things.”
The town would not benefit from less participation in the RTM, Gerber said, adding the RTM has also been a stepping stone or launch pad for many of Fairfield's representatives in higher office.
Marcy Spolyar, a Democrat RTM member from District 4, also said the size of the body should be left up to the RTM. She said bringing it down in the charter from 56 to its current size of 40 would be fine, but 30 is too low.
Spolyar said the current size allows enough representatives for them to be responsive to and involved in their districts. Yes, she said, meetings take longer so that everyone who wants to can ask questions or comment, but it is an important part of the process.
“Everybody that's on it adds a very good value to it,” she said. “We all kind of share the responses and the work. We'll get emails from constituents about something wrong on their street, and not all four of us will need to respond that second. One of us will respond and another time another one of us will respond to it.”