A commission created to examine and recommend changes to the Derby City Charter is scheduled to meet Monday to talk about city employees who double as elected officials.
The meeting of the Derby Charter Revision Commission is open to the public and is scheduled to start 7 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chambers in Derby City Hall, 1 Elizabeth St.
A city charter is a set of rules dictating how local government should function. It is a customized blueprint for local government.
The charter revision commission was recently formed in Derby.
Its members include Alderman Art Gerckens, Alderman Joe DiMartino, Beverly Moran, Sheila Parizo, Robert Hughes, Jim Stadt and Adam Pacheco.
They don’t have the power to change the charter themselves.
Instead, they have until the end of July to recommend changes to the Board of Aldermen.
The Board of Aldermen accepts or rejects the recommendations — but Derby voters get final say over any changes. Any suggested charter changes could go to voters in November.
There’s at least one hot topic on the charter revision commission’s table.
Currently, the Derby City Charter does not allow elected officials to double as city employees unless a waiver is granted by the full Board of Aldermen.
It is a safeguard within Derby government that has been in place for generations.
But now there is a move afoot to alter the provision.
The Charter Revision Commission hosted a public hearing June 13. The purpose was to learn whether members of the public had any suggestions to make about the charter.
Several Aldermen spoke at the public hearing, including Carmen DiCenso, the president of the Derby Board of Aldermen.
DiCenso said people elected by the people should serve, regardless of whether they also make a living from the government.
DiCenso said the current rules gives one Aldermen the ability to negate the votes of hundreds of Derby voters, since a unanimous Board of Aldermen vote is required to take office after winning the popular vote.
Gerckens has repeatedly said the check should stay in place.
He said employees who work for the government while serving the government have a clear conflict. Gerckens has specifically pointed to the involvement of Alderman Stephen Iacuone, an employee of the Water Pollution Control Authority, on matters involving the WPCA.
Gerckens has said the WPCA has too many wrinkles the Aldermen need to iron out.
The Derby WPCA is under investigation for allegedly changing pollution reports involving the Housatonic River. In addition, state environmental regulators have said the WPCA is mismanaged.
And city voters recently gave the same WPCA permission to borrow more than $30 million in repairs. Those repairs will cost the average Derby property owner an extra $300 a year.
Finally, there’s the question of whether Derby even needs the WPCA in its current form.
DiMartino, an Alderman and Derby Public Works employee, says the requirement is not needed in Derby. He has previously said it only takes one person on the Board of Aldermen to block the people’s choice, which is not fair.
In addition to the “dual office holding” rule, the charter revision commission could also tackle a number of other parts of the Derby charter, including:
Should Derby government consider publishing legal notices in publications other than daily newspapers?
Should the bid process in Derby be changed to favor Derby-based companies?
Should Derby government have a charter section saying it has to give a specific amount of money every year to Griffin Hospital?
