Groton — With Election Day nearing, representatives of the groups supporting and opposing the proposed revisions to the town's charter debated the issues Monday evening at the Groton Public Library.

About 60 people attended the debate, sponsored and moderated by the League of Women Voters of Southeastern Connecticut, between Bob Frink, president of Groton's Right to Vote PAC, the group supporting the changes, and Jean-Claude Ambroise, chairman of the Vote No Charter Revisions PAC. Frink and Ambroise had five minutes each to state their group's positions on each of the major changes and then answered questions from the audience.

The proposed charter revisions include eliminating the Representative Town Meeting and implementing a Board of Finance and an annual budget referendum in which people would vote on the town and Board of Education budgets separately, according to the Charter Revision Commission’s final report. The proposed revisions also call for four-year terms for town councilors. The elimination of the RTM would trigger minority party representation rules to apply to the Town Council, due to state statutes, according to the report. Currently, the RTM has minority party representation, and the Town Council does not.

Frink said a vote on the budget: "allows each taxpayer to have a voice in town spending. You know your circumstances and only you can decide what you can afford." He said 72 towns in Connecticut vote on their budgets and the leadership in those towns presents a summary of town expenditures to voters.  

Frink, who served on the Charter Revision Commission, said the commission had rejected measures such as setting a percentage budget increase that would trigger a referendum, because he said it would end up as a target with no incentive to go lower. He said the budget referendum priced at about $20,000 is "worth every penny and it's my belief that they will pay for themselves." He said a vote on the budget would provide more transparency on "big budget items."

Ambroise, who opposed that the budget referendum doesn't include measures such as a minimum voter turnout, pointed out that during two public hearings in August and October 2017, opponents of the changes outnumbered supporters, and the Town Council rejected in November 2017 the Charter Revision Commission's final report in a 5-4 vote. Groton's Right to Vote group petitioned the charter changes to referendum.

"It is false to claim that charter revisions would create a  transparent annual budget process," he said. "Not everyone's required to vote annually on a budget, not all residents are voters and no voter is required to vote. However, every taxpayer in town would be required to cover the $22,000-plus cost of operating all the polling places for each of the potentially unlimited number of budget referendums each year."

On the topic of the RTM, Ambroise called it the "best representative voice of our diverse community," while Frink said most people don't know who their RTM member is and can directly contact the town government through their mobile devices.

Frink said the Board of Finance would work with and advise the Town Council on financial decisions, including preparing five-year revenue projections and acting as a "watchdog" for wasteful spending.

But Ambroise, who had asserted that the RTM provides a check on the Town Council, said the finance board would have no vote or veto power over the Town Council and there would be no recourse if the council didn't agree.

Ambroise said electing town councilors every four years, rather than every two years, is cutting voters' rights in half. He added that eliminating the RTM would not only require the Town Council to have to follow minority representation, but the City Council as well.

Frink said four-year terms would provide stability and allow town councilors to gain experience to delve into the Groton 2020 Plan or topics such as regionalization and the cost of health care. He said the minority representation requirements are due to state law.

Documents related to the proposed charter changes can be found online at: http://www.groton-ct.gov/depts/twnclk/charter.asp. A video of the debate will be posted on the library's website later this week.

k.drelich@theday.com