On the New Britain November 8, 2022, election ballot appeared the following Charter Question 2: “SHALL THE REMAINDER OF THE CHANGES TO THE CITY CHARTER, AS RECOMMENDED BY THE CHARTER REVISION COMMISSIOIN BE APPROVED?”
The problem was that most voters did not know what changes the Revision Commission proposed. Most thought there were probably minor changes so few if any had the time or interest in reading the long, small-printed document that was hanging on the wall in each voting poll. The charter question 2 passed by a small margin. The voters did not know the details which included:
(1) converting the positions of Revenue Collector and Town and City clerk from elected to civil service mayor-appointed position. That meant that on key positions that have influence on elections (city clerk) and the budget (Revenue Collector) the voters would no longer have a say.
(2) adding a mayor-appointed city manager to “be responsible for the daily management of certain city function” thereby hiring a six-figure staff position to do the mayor’s job while the mayor gets to retain significant power and a six figure-salary as well.
Despite attempts to prevent future abuses and promote transparency in ballot initiatives, the measure, sponsored by the League of Women Voters, failed to pass in the Connecticut legislature.
While the charter revision requires re-opening the charter every five years (next is 2027), a 2/3 majority of the city council (10 alderpersons now held by democrats) could vote to reopen the charter in 2026.
I propose for 2026 elections, putting the same questions, this time separately in clear language and letting the voters decide. In addition, since the 2022 charter question 1 changed the city council voting system to ward-only, voters might want to revisit this question as well. This system is anti-democratic because three out of the four candidates in each ward (two from each party) get elected and therefore candidates have less incentive to campaign and knock on doors. Furthermore, in ward-only elections, each party is guaranteed at least five seats on the city council regardless of how many voters they received.
06 May, 2026
