DERBY — Members of the Derby Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen are expected Thursday to accept a final report from the city’s Charter Revision Commission so that questions about changing the blueprint of Derby government can be placed on the ballot in November.
The meeting is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
It will be held online, using the Zoom video conferencing platform.
Derby City/Town Clerk Marc Garofalo provided the following information to join the meeting:
From your computer, go to:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85095715251pwd=WW1RcUI5N1AvN0h3bzBxeXc1eEtUQT09
If you already have Zoom installed, the meeting ID is 850 9571 5251 and the password is 451989.
From your telephone, dail +1 301 715 8592 and the meeting ID is 850 9571 5251 and the password is 45198.
Got all that? Good!
The most substantial potential changes to the Charter include specifying the mayor’s position is a full-time job, which could have increased costs connected to the job down the road.
In addition, the Charter Revision Commission — a bi-partisan, appointed commission — is recommending all elected officials in Derby serve four two-year terms instead of four.
(correction: I reversed two and four in the original post. The proposed change is to go to FOUR year terms, from the current two-year terms).
And it gives the Mayor a more formal role in the annual budget making process.
The Aldermen & Alderwomen recently reviewed the commission’s work and was OK with it — aside from changing the name of the Derby Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen to simply Board of Alders.
Check out a summary of the proposed changes the city provided in advance of Thursday’s 6 p.m. meeting. If you can’t read the embed, click here for the PDF from the Derby government website.
Summary of Derby Charter Changes by The Valley Indy on Scribd
Legal Action Coming?
The Charter Revision met Tuesday, Aug. 25 to review the Alders’ feedback. The meeting is embedded at the top of this story.
At the start of the meeting, Vin Marino, the city’s corporation counsel, took the time to defend the city against the opinion of a lone Derby resident who maintains the composition of the commission violates state law.
Katie Betlej wrote a “cease and desist” letter to the city saying that the number of elected officials serving on the commission violates the state’s rules. Those rules dictate that no more than 33 percent of the members of a charter revision commission can be elected officials.
In her letter, which is embedded below, Betlej states that 50 percent of Derby’s commission are elected officials.
“If Charter Revision Commission meetings continue, in any form or medium, I will be forced to petition the District Civil Court to issue a temporary injunction against the City of Derby and the Charter Revision Commission. I will also be obliged to sue for monetary damages that will accrue due to legal proceedings,” Betlej wrote.
‘Cease and Desist’ To Derby by The Valley Indy on Scribd
Betlej is counting Chris Laroque and Owney Malerba, who are elected members of the Derby Democratic Town Committee and also serving on charter revision.
Marino said he researched the issue and found that Betlej’s argument lacks legal merit. Members of political town committees aren’t considered as holders of “public office,” Marino said in a memo which is available below.
“Your argument fails because you have incorrectly and improperly qualified members of the local political town committees as holding “public office” in Derby,” Marino wrote.
Marino Response To ‘Cease & Desist’ by The Valley Indy on Scribd
Betlej, who still disagrees with the attorney, shared her cease and desist letter and an email to eight media outlets Aug. 24.
Marino responded with a “reply all” which also went to the media outlets. He pointed out that Betlej failed to share his letter explaining his research on the issue — and cautioned her about publishing what he called false statements.
“You are hereby warned that any further publication of your inaccurate and false statements by you, or by any third party will be injurious to me, Mr. Baklik, Mr. Garofalo, Mayor Dziekan, and other Derby public officials and will result in legal action being commenced against you and any third party publishing your inaccurate and false statements,” Marino said in an email.
The Valley Indy is a third party, so the publication sent an email asking Marino if was saying he (or the city) would have grounds to file a lawsuit against a reporter or media company reporting on Betlej’s assertion.
In response, Marino cited New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case. The case makes it tough for public officials to claim they’ve been libeled after being criticized by the public.
The Valley Indy links to an explanation of the NY Times case within its policy on letters to the editor. The information is included because various Valley public officials over the past decade have told The Valley Indy they’ve felt libeled by critical letters to the editor from the public.
“With regard to the present matter, I do believe that a media story can be written without concern provided that includes all of the facts,” Marino said in an email to The Valley Indy. “If, however, a media source decided to only publish a statement or position knowing that it is false or inaccurate that causes injury, I do believe that such action could present (liability).”
