Westbrook, Connecticut, Seeks Candidates for Possible Charter Commission

WESTBROOK - Creating a town charter for Westbrook just became a step closer to reality after an eight month delay.

It was this past March when Chairman Joe Campbell of the Westbrook Ad-Hoc Town Charter Study Commission gave a presentation to the Board of Selectmen.

In that presentation, Campbell said the commission voted 5-2 in December 2006 to recommend that a "town charter would be in the best interest of the Town of Westbrook."

In the study commission's report, the majority believed issues that could be addressed with a charter include expanding the Board of Selectmen, separating the education and municipal budgets, appointing some municipal positions, modifying the size and terms of many boards and commissions, and appointing some boards and commissions.

The two opponents, Robert Traut and Thomas Truxes, wrote that the study committee did not undertake research necessary to properly make a decision and recommended another committee be established with a budget to thoroughly investigate the matter.

According to March Board of Selectmen minutes, selectmen indicated that adapting a charter would "not be a quick decision and that all comments received were excellent and will be considered in-depth."

The board consisted of Republican First Selectman John Raffa, Republican Selectman Robert Mulvihill, and Democrat Selectman Tony Palermo.

Since then; Raffa passed away and Noel Bishop was appointed first selectman and recently won re-election, Palermo did not run for re-election, and voters chose to oust Mulvihill.

Voters recently elected Democrats Marie Farrell and Jim Crawford to the board.

Creating a town charter is "one of the two most important decisions a community makes," Bishop said, adding that most towns with charters tend to have a population over 10,000 but that some smaller towns also have charters.

Westbrook in 2006 had an estimated population of 6,610.

Examples of small towns with charters include Salem with 4,090 residents, Marlborough with 6,311 residents, Killingworth with 6,431 residents, and Durham with 7,350 residents.