The last attempt to revise Hartford’s Charter went nowhere due to the proverbial ball being dropped, but this time the proposed changes will make it onto the November ballots so citizens can approve or reject.
This time around the group “was a pretty functional body,” Brendan Mahoney, one of the Charter Revision Commissioners said. “There was no grandstanding.”
The flaw in this system is having voters — mostly not lawyers — vote on changes written in legalese. The first time many will encounter these questions will be at the polls. The questions you will find on November’s ballot will read as follows:
What does all this mean?
You can see some of the revision process by looking at the redline copy:
2013 Charter.version 03 to Current Charter Redline
The revised Charter, as approved by City Council, is also available for viewing:
Hartford Charter Final Report.5 June 2013.Part I
Board of Education
While the mayor will remain responsible for appointing the majority of Board of Education members, there was discussion by the Charter Revision Commission about returning power to the voters. Some rejected this because an all-elected Board of Education in past years was deemed ineffective; the logic of this rejection is on par with dismantling our ability to vote for President of the United States based on a few bad eggs in power. In November, voters will be able to vote in four Board of Education members. Unless appointed members resign, it will be awhile until the currently serving appointed ones are replaced.
If the changes to the Charter are adopted by voters, the mayor may remain on the Board of Education, but he will not be able to vote on matters. He also would not be able to serve as Chair of the Board of Education. Currently, Mayor Segarra is not serving as Chair of the Board of Ed.
Residency
On this and other boards and commissions, members would — under the new Charter — need to be Hartford residents. The current Charter states that those on boards and commissions must be electors of the city: U.S. citizens. If the State of Connecticut, however, requires U.S. citizenship on a particular board, this requirement would remain unchanged.
Salaries
Also in the revised Charter, the executive power and authority of the mayor received substantial clarification. Currently, his base salary is determined to be equal to that of “a judge of the Superior Court of the State of Connecticut,” with the possibility for annual adjustments. The new language allows for salary adjustments no higher than the Consumer Price Index. Essentially, the Mayor, Treasurer, and City Council would receive automatic pay increases in line with the cost of living.
Campaign Finance Reform
Chapter III, Section 5 of the revised Charter gives City Council until July 1, 2014 to come up with a plan to submit to apply for publicly financed elections:
Registrars of Voters
The trend over this past year or so has been to come down hard on the existence of three Registrars of Voters in Hartford, rather than on the lack of fulfillment of their responsibilities. The waste is not having three people holding the position — it’s in having anyone getting a paycheck who is not meeting all of his or her job duties.
The current Charter reads: “There shall be two (2) registrars of voters and seven (7) constables. To the extent consistent with the General Statutes, the council may by ordinance provide for the appointment of registrars or constables.” The proposed change is: “There shall be such Registrars of Voters as may be set forth in the Ordinances and seven (7) constables. To the extent consistent with General Statutes, the Council may by ordinance provide for the appointment of registrars or constables.”
That does not sound like much of a difference; where real change might happen here is in the ability for City Council to appoint a Registrar of Voters. This has been an elected position, but because the two traditionally major political parties have had an entitlement to two spots and a third party Registrars of Voter has earned more votes than the Republican candidate in recent years, Hartford has ended up with three. In theory, three Registrars should make for a well-oiled machine, but among the glitches in the 2012 election over a thousand voters were stuck in City Hall’s long lines and a number of write-in votes remain uncounted.
The revised Charter would also spell out the powers and duties of the Registrars of Voters; this states that among other things, “proper reporting of candidate totals” would need to happen on election night. Adding to this boost in professionalism, the Registrars of Voters would need to be certified no later than 180 days after being hired.
More
There are other proposed changes dealing with items like the budget and how members are appointed to boards and commissions. The current City Charter and Proposed Charter can be viewed on a site created to track the movement of the 2012-2013 Hartford Charter Revision Commission.