ANSONIA – The Board of Aldermen have a public hearing scheduled Aug. 25 over a slate of proposed charter changes which could go to voters this November.

The hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. Aug. 25 in the Aldermanic Chambers of Ansonia City Hall (253 Main St). The Aldermen could vote to finalize the charter proposals at a second meeting scheduled for 7 p.m.

The proposed revisions could alter how budget referendums are triggered in Ansonia and institute a new set of procedures for selecting fire department chiefs. 

Click here to see the draft report, which includes the proposed changes and was sent to the Board of Aldermen Aug. 13. The report is also embedded at the end of this article.

Fire Department Changes

The proposed changes would change the number of fire department chiefs in the city, from five down to four, and it would establish new rules for how those chiefs are selected.

Currently, each of the city’s five firehouses elects a chief, and leadership of the full department rotates between those chiefs.

Under the changes, candidates for assistant chief would take a written examination administered by a testing agency, and an oral examination attended by the mayor, Aldermen on the fire commission, a city human resources representative, a fire department representative selected by a popular vote of the department’s membership, and one or more fire officers who are not affiliated with the department.

The candidate with the highest score on those tests would be appointed second assistant chief, and at that point they would enter the rotation – meaning they would eventually become first assistant chief, then deputy chief, and then overall chief of the department.

The proposed changes also include language updates for the fire department. The changes would remove a section of the charter concerning the superintendent of fire alarm systems, a position which no longer exists, and it would change the titles of the chiefs as follows:

  • “Chief engineer” would become “fire chief”
  • “Assistant engineer” would become “deputy chief,” “first assistant chief,” and “second assistant chief”

In practice, the department has not used the charter titles in communications with the public for years.

Referendum Changes

The commission’s proposed changes could alter how the budget is crafted and voted on in Ansonia.

The changes would push the entire budget process back by about a month, giving officials more time to craft a budget, and it would change the way referendums are triggered in Ansonia.

Currently, a budget referendum in Ansonia is triggered whenever a proposed budget would increase the “net taxes to be collected” by 3 percent or more. The proposal would change it so a referendum instead happens when city expenditures increase by more than 4 percent.

In other words – city spending increases would trigger referendums, instead of tax collection increases. Click here for a previous story which includes a discussion of that proposal.

The commission scrapped a previously discussed proposal which would have allowed the Aldermen to disregard a referendum’s result if not enough voters showed up. That change does not appear in the draft report and will not go to voters this November.

The changes would also increase the public notice period for referendums, from five days to 14 days.

Next Steps

The commission’s draft report is in the hands of the Aldermen.

Following the public hearing, the Aldermen could vote to adopt the report without changes. If they do, then the draft report becomes final.

After the report is finalized, the city’s corporation counsel would help write the ballot questions to appear before voters in November. 

If the Aldermen choose to recommend changes, then they will send the report back to the charter revision commission so those changes can be made. 

The deadline to submit questions to appear on the ballot is Sept. 4.