News

Letter: Softball Field Improvements Are Evidence That First Selectman Should Remain Board of Finance Chairman

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On November 8th, citizens of New Canaan will be allowed to vote on proposed changes to the Board of Finance. Having worked with our first selectman on investments in girls’ softball infrastructure in town, I am strongly opposed to these changes. The town needs a single and accountable leader to guide town spending, especially when important and timely investments need to be evaluated and funded. I approached our first selectman as a parent volunteer representing the NCHS Softball team and the NC Softball League. Our varsity field at Waveny was in poor condition, we had no designated bullpen, and our backstop— built in the 1980s—was unsuitable and dangerous.

News

Letter: Vote ‘No’ To Removing 1st Selectman as Board of Finance Chair

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Dear Editor:

There’s an old military axiom that says “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

For the past 50 plus years our Board of Finance has been led by our elected first selectman who serves as ex officio chair. Some want to change that. The entire 12 members of the Board of Finance do not want to change that. The three members of our Board of Selectman do not want to change that. Half of the members of our Town Council do not want to change that.

Government

‘Scary and Slippery Slope’: With Reservations, Selectmen OK New Counsel for FOI Request

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Saying they hoped it wouldn’t set a bad precedent or promote lack of transparency in town government, officials on Wednesday approved an appointed body’s request to engage a lawyer regarding an unexpected Freedom of Information Act request. The FOIA request, filed by a town resident, seeks to know just who said what to members of the Charter Revision Commission, a volunteer group that convened one year ago to study and recommend changes to New Canaan’s major governing document. As the full commission worked toward forming its Town Charter recommendations —to be put before New Canaan voters on Election Day, following approval from the Town Council—a subcommittee gathering information to inform the full commission conducted interviews with municipal employees and leaders on the boards that help govern the town. Those interviewees had been told their identities would be kept confidential—an assertion now in question. According to Town Council Chairman Bill Walbert, the Charter Revision Commission after receiving the FOIA request checked with the town attorney and others about its position and “the advice they were getting did not jibe with what they felt in their hearts—I guess is probably the best way to say it.”

“And they felt they would like to have different counsel whose thought process was more in line with that they felt their proper stance was,” Walbert told the Board of Selectmen during its regular meeting, held at Town Hall.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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Officials said Wednesday that New Canaan is on track by year’s end to qualify for its first four-year moratorium from the Affordable Housing Appeals Act—a state law that allows developers to skirt local planning officials if a project designates a certain number of units as “affordable,” under a definition that’s extremely difficult for the town to achieve. Scott Hobbs, chairman of the New Canaan Housing Authority, said during a regular meeting of the Town Council that the first phase of a project at Millport Avenue is a “little bit ahead of schedule.”

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At the suggestion of New Canaan Police Chief Leon Krolikowski, the Police Commission at the start of its meeting Wednesday night opened with a moment of silence. It was “for all of the violence that is happening and for officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge,” the chief said during the meeting, held at the New Canaan Police Department. ***

A pair of highway workers for the state walked the median of the Merritt Parkway for about two miles in the oppressive heat last Friday afternoon to find an injured red-tailed hawk there, according to Officer Allyson Halm, head of the NCPD’s Animal Control section. That hawk—and another that was found injured on a Southwood Drive home’s deck on the same day—went to a rehab group in Wilton but unfortunately were too far gone to cure, and had to be put down, Halm said.

Government

‘Tread Very, Very Lightly’: Selectmen Critical of Imposing Term Limits on Volunteer Boards and Commissions

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It would be a mistake to set term limits for the members of the volunteer boards, commissions and committees that help govern New Canaan or to impose restrictions on how long people can serve as chairmen of those groups, the town’s highest elected official said this week. Citing opinions from some members of New Canaan’s legislative body, the Town Council, as well as a referral back to an appointed group that’s recommending changes to the town’s major governing document, First Selectman Rob Mallozzi said to force rotating chairmanships would be a bad idea. “I would caution the Town Council to tread very, very lightly on imposing limitations—from a body that does not have their own term limits—to talk about there being term limits with other groups,” Mallozzi said Tuesday during a Board of Selectmen meeting, held at Town Hall. As it stands, the Town Charter sets no term limits on members of groups that include the selectmen, Park & Recreation Commission, Zoning Board of Appeals, Town Council or Board of Finance, or on individuals such as the town clerk or treasurer—and the Charter Revision Commission recommended no changes in those areas in its draft report. The Charter Revision Commission’s recommendations vis-à-vis the Town Charter may go up for a town-wide vote during the general elections in November.