QUESTION 4

Explanatory Text (from Town Clerk)

This would amend the Charter to allow the Town to dispense with publishing certain notices in a newspaper unless required to do so pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes. 

Current Language

§ 4.3. Meetings.
D. Notice. The Town Clerk shall notify all RTM members of the time and place at which each regular or special RTM meeting is to be held. The notice shall be sent by mail at least five days before the meeting, and a copy of such notice shall be published before the meeting in a newspaper having a general circulation in the Town and posted as required by the Freedom of Information Act. The notice shall specify the purposes for which the meeting is to be held, which shall include any business of which the Town Clerk has been notified by the First Selectman, chairman of the Board of Finance, or the Moderator, or which may be proposed in an electors' or RTM members' petition. 

§ 4.5. Ordinances. The Town Clerk shall cause any action of the RTM adopting, amending, or repealing an ordinance to be published in proper summary form within one week after the adjournment of the meeting at which such action was taken in a newspaper having a general circulation in the Town. The effective date of the ordinance or repeal shall be 14 days after the adjournment of the meeting at which it was passed or such later date as may have been set by the RTM at such meeting, unless a petition for referendum concerning the ordinance is filed as provided in Section 13.1 of this Charter.

Proposed Language (new)

§ 4.3. Meetings.
D. Notice. The Town Clerk shall notify all RTM members of the time and place at which each regular or special RTM meeting is to be held. The notice shall be posted on the Town’s website at least five days before the meeting. The notice shall specify the purposes for which the meeting is to be held, which shall include any business of which the Town Clerk has been notified by the First Selectperson, chairperson of the Board of Finance, or the Moderator, or which may be proposed in an electors' or RTM members' petition. 

§ 4.5. Ordinances. The Town Clerk shall cause any action of the RTM adopting, amending, or repealing an ordinance to be published in proper summary form within one week after the adjournment of the meeting at which such action was taken on the Town’s website, and if otherwise required by the General Statutes, in a newspaper having a general circulation in the Town. The effective date of the ordinance or repeal shall be 14 days after the adjournment of the meeting at which it was passed or such later date as may have been set by the RTM at such meeting, unless a petition for referendum concerning the ordinance is filed as provided in Section 13.1 of this Charter. 

F4GG Comments

These changes were recommended by the Town Clerk in her letter to the Charter Revision Commission.  Her justification for doing so was that the Town of Fairfield maintains "a website where its residents have immediate access to information" and the proposed changes "would save taxpayer money while still providing the public with the opportunity of notification in a timely manner."

While it is true that the Town maintains a website, and residents can sign up for agenda notifications, the proposed change does not mention that the town is required to provide a notification. And there is no current notification process for ordinances. 

Posting to a website is a passive process and is not the same as pushing the information out to those who sign up to receive it. This change should have required the Town to provide a process where residents can sign up to be notified and to provide that notification in a timely manner.

F4GG Recommendation

This change has no requirement to replace the newspaper 'pushing' of information with another form of notification.  F4GG recommends voting NO on this change.