Should there be a New Britain Chief Operations Officer

On the 2022 elections ballot there were three questions for the voters to vote yes or no. One question was put by the state legislator whether to institute early voting. The other two questions were put by the Republican majority based on recommendations by the city charter re-opening committee. One question asked the voters whether to change the electoral system for city council from a mix of wards and at-large to wards only. The second question stated, “Shall the remainder of the changes to the city charter, as recommended by the Charter Revision Commission, be approved?” The ballot did not list the changes. Despite public hearings on the city charter revisions, according to anecdotal evidence collected by candidates standing at the polls, most voters did not know what changes were included in question #3. One of the major items that question #3 included was to add the position of city manager or Chief Operations Officer (COO) to the city charter. According to the revised city charter article 16-1, the COO position role is to

work with, and report directly to, the Mayor. The Chief Operations Officer shall perform any tasks, duties or functions that are within the scope of the duties of the office of the Mayor and have been delegated from the Mayor to the Chief Operations Officer. The Chief Operations Officer shall make periodic reports to the Common Council and shall attend its meetings.

This position will be given at least 4-year contract and will be responsible for the “daily management of the city, including the administration and supervision of all departments and offices” and could only be removed by a two third majority of the city council upon recommendation by the mayor.

While mayor Stewart is yet to fill the COO position, the 2023-4 budget included $150,000 for filling this position.

The question is whether such position that also include a highly paid mayor ($105,000 in the case of mayor Erin Stewart) necessary for a city population size such as New Britain – a city of 74,000 residents. The closest cities in Connecticut population wise are Danbury 87,000, Norwalk 91,634, Bristol 60,653, and Meriden 60,147. Danbury and Bristol don’t have a city manager rather than a highly paid mayor, while Norwalk and Meriden do have city managers and mayors. However, both Norwalk and Meriden pay their mayors only a relatively small stipend since they don’t run the city. Norwalk’s mayor makes $31,000 and Meriden’s mayor salary is $17,000. The question is whether the city of New Britain could afford both a highly paid mayor and a highly paid city manager.

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