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Derby City Hall
DERBY — The city’s Board of Aldermen/Alderwomen created a 10-person Charter Revision Commission during a meeting Thursday in city hall. Next the board will come up with suggested changes for the commission to mull over.
A charter is a municipality blue print for governing. It lays out the basics of how the government is structured and operates.
The members unanimously appointed by the Aldermen/Alderwomen Thursday included:
(As recommended by the Democratic Town Committee):
- Aniello D. Malerba, III
- Christopher Larocque
- Charles M. Stankye
All three men are registered Democrats.
(As recommended by the Republican Town Committee):
- Sam Pollastro, Jr.
- Gina McKay
- James Smey
- Ralph Cappiello
Pollastro is a registered Republican. The other three people are unaffiliated.
Mayor Rich Dziekan recommended Carl McCluster, an unaffiliated resident. He was unanimously appointed as well.
In addition, Alderman Rob Hyder was appointed to the commission, as was Alderwoman Camille Grande-Kurtyka. Hyder is not a member of a political party, but ran for Aldermen on the Republican ticket. Grande-Kurtyka is a Democrat.
The Democratic Town Committee had recommended Walt Mayhew be appointed to the Charter Revision Commission. Mayhew is also the elected city treasurer, for which he receives a stipend.
The Aldermen/Alderwomen voted 6 – 3 to appoint Mayhew to the Charter Revision Commission. Charles Sampson, Jim DiMartino and Barbara DeGennaro voted no.
But Mayor Rich Dziekan and the board said that the Derby Charter prohibits “dual office holding” by city officials unless the Board of Aldermen/Alderwomen grant a waiver by unanimous vote. A vote on the waiver was then held. Sampson, DiMartino and DeGennaro voted against the waiver, killing the Mayhew appointment.
The trio did not spell out their opposition to Mayhew during the public meeting.
Derby Town/City Clerk Marc Garofalo questioned whether the “dual office holding” rule even applied in this scenario.
DeGennaro said it does, because Mayhew receives money to be treasure and therefor needed a waiver to hold another position.
A first meeting date for the new Charter Revision Commission was not set Thursday. Any changes would ultimately go to Derby voters for approval or rejection.
The commission must schedule a public hearing early in the process, during which time residents can appear and suggest changes they’d like to see.
The Aldermen/Alderwomen will also hold a meeting to suggest changes they’d like to see made to the charter.
Mayor Dziekan has said several times that he thinks the Derby mayor’s term should be extended to four years instead of two. Additionally, he has said the time has come to make the job full-time, and the salary to match. However, he has said any such change would have to go into effect after he leaves office.
Derby’s last charter revision was in 2016. Voters approved making a number of cosmetic changes to the charter, such as correcting grammar, but they rejected a proposal that had to do with “dual office holding.”
Currently, if a person wants to hold two positions in the city — such as being an Aldermen while working for the city — a unanimous vote is needed from the Aldermen/Alderwomen.
The 2016 question asked voters to do away with that requirement, which was originally put into place to prevent corruption and to prevent elected leaders from profiting off their service.
