Charter panel adopts fire, police, parking article revisions

Other Committee · Meeting of April 21, 2026

New Canaan Charter Revision Commission adopts fire, police and parking article rewrites, splits on finance oversight. Meeting by video Tuesday, the commission unanimously approved revised charter language for the fire, police and parking commissions and added a provision letting the elected town clerk appoint assistant clerks. Members voted 7-2 to keep the Board of Finance's existing authority to approve line-item budget transfers without Town Council sign-off.

"The town council is not more virtuous than the selectman," said commission member Chris Lee, arguing against shifting more appointment power to the council. The panel left unresolved a proposed $3 million threshold requiring an eight-member council supermajority before selling town property; outside counsel Nick Bamonte warned any referendum right "needs to be expressly built into your charter." Two more working sessions are planned before a further revised draft.

In the full story:

• The complete report — 1,034 words

Source: the Other Committee meeting of April 21, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

The Full Article

NEW CANAAN — April 21, 2026 — The New Canaan Charter Revision Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt updated charter language covering the town's parking, fire and police commissions, and to add new provisions letting the elected town clerk appoint assistant clerks, as the panel works through a line-by-line rewrite of the town charter ahead of a planned submission to the Town Council.

Commissioners also voted 7-2 to keep the Board of Finance's current authority to approve routine line-item budget transfers without added Town Council sign-off, and left unresolved a proposed $3 million threshold that would require a Town Council supermajority, and possibly a public referendum, before the town could sell, lease or transfer town-owned property.

The Full Story

Meeting by video conference, commissioners reached a quorum after a roll call that recorded members Casease, Corbett, Jameson, Lampert, Neville, Parlo and Willet present, with members Kimes and Labris absent. The commission spent most of the two-and-a-half-hour session paging through "draft report version 11," a working document the panel has been revising since a meeting the previous night, and taking votes article by article.

On the parking commission article, renumbered as Article 14, commissioners agreed by unanimous voice vote to strike language requiring the Board of Selectmen to submit a post-adoption expense estimate to the Board of Finance, after members determined the clause was leftover text with no current purpose. A lengthy exchange followed about who has authority over on-street parking changes; commissioners were told that adding or removing on-street spaces falls to the Police Commission as the town's local traffic authority, while simply changing parking fees does not.

The commission then unanimously approved revisions to the fire commission article, now Article 9, incorporating grievance-process and reporting language commission members said was supplied by the town's human resources office. Members agreed to drop a requirement for an annual activities report to the Board of Selectmen from the charter itself, opting instead to recommend that boards and commissions report to the selectmen as a matter of practice rather than charter mandate.

Commissioners likewise voted unanimously to approve police commission revisions, now Article 17, adjusting the disciplinary and dismissal process for the police chief to mirror language already adopted for the fire chief, including a requirement that any dismissal receive Board of Selectmen approval. On the town clerk's article, renumbered Article 21, the panel voted unanimously to add two sentences allowing the town clerk, with Board of Selectmen approval, to appoint assistant town clerks. A separate, more contested paragraph that would have made the town clerk's office "accountable to the first selectman" on administrative policy was set aside after a commissioner argued it singled out one elected office; members agreed instead to draft broader language applying to all department heads, whether elected or appointed.

On the audit board, now Article 6, commissioners voted unanimously to retain the existing appointment process, under which the Board of Selectmen appoints audit board members subject to confirmation by seven votes of the Town Council, rejecting a suggestion to shift the appointment power solely to the Town Council.

"The town council is not more virtuous than the selectman," Chris Lee, a commission member, said during that debate.

The most contested vote of the day came on Article 5, the Board of Finance article, where commissioners split 7-2 to retain current charter language allowing the finance board and chief financial officer to approve line-item budget transfers without Town Council review, over objections from two members who wanted the council added as an approver. Commissioners then approved Article 5 as amended by unanimous voice vote.

Late in the meeting, commissioners debated but did not resolve a proposed rule requiring an eight-member Town Council supermajority, rather than a simple majority, before the town could sell, lease or transfer town-owned property above an unspecified dollar threshold, with $3 million offered as a placeholder figure. The town's outside counsel cautioned that any right to a public referendum on such a sale would need to be written explicitly into the charter.

"If you want a right for a referendum, it needs to be expressly built into your charter," Nick Bamonte, the commission's attorney, told members.

"This should apply to everybody, not just one or two people," Bill Peret, a commission member, said of a separate proposal to hold elected department heads to the same operational policies as town employees.

Why It Matters

The charter revision process happens roughly once a decade and determines how New Canaan's boards, commissions and elected offices operate for years afterward. The provisions decided Tuesday touch how police and fire chiefs can be removed, how independent the elected town clerk's office remains from the first selectman, and how much oversight the Town Council has over both routine budget moves and the audit process. The unresolved property-sale threshold could determine whether major land transactions, like a police station redevelopment or a park sale, require broader Town Council or public approval in the future. Commissioners said they have two more full working sessions scheduled before finalizing a further revised draft.

Key Motions & Votes

- Vote: Approve draft minutes of Group Three's March 25 review session Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Adopt Article 14 (Parking Commission) revisions Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Adopt Article 9 (Fire Commission) revisions Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Adopt Article 17 (Police Commission) revisions Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Adopt Article 21 (Town Clerk), Section 21-1 assistant town clerk language Tally: Approved unanimously

• Action: Administrative-policy accountability language for department heads — Referred to a broader miscellaneous section for further drafting, applicable to all department heads

- Vote: Retain current appointment process for Article 6 (Audit Board) Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Retain current Board of Finance line-item transfer authority without added Town Council approval (Article 5, Section 5-28) Tally: For: 7, Against: 2, Total: 9

- Vote: Adopt Article 5 (Board of Finance) as amended Tally: Approved unanimously

• Action: Proposed $3 million supermajority/referendum threshold for sale or transfer of town property — No language adopted; discussion to continue at upcoming sessions

- Vote: Adjourn meeting Tally: Approved unanimously

Source

Town Of New Canaan: Charter Revision Commission meeting, April 21, 2026