APPOINTMENT
Motion/Request:
title
MOTION to appoint Mr. William Barnes (R) 1 Spruce Street, Ledyard to the Town Council to fill a vacancy left by Councilor Gary Paul, in accordance with Chapter II Section 10 of the Town Charter.
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Background:
1/123/2025: The Republican Town Committee voted to endorse the appointment of Mr. Williams Barnes to fill the vacancy on the Town Council left by Mr. Gary Paul. (Please see attached letter dated 1/14/2025)
In accordance with Chapter II; Section 10 of the Town Charter:
CHAPTER II - ELECTIONS AND ELECTED OFFICIALS
SECTION 10. VACANCIES
Any vacancy in any elective Town office, from whatever cause arising, shall, except as otherwise provided in the General Statutes, be filled by appointment by the Town Council for the period until the next regular Town election. If there shall be a regular Town election before the expiration of the term of any office in which a vacancy occurs, such office shall be filled until said election by appointment as provided herein and subsequently by the election of a person to fill that office for the remaining portion of the term. In filling any vacancy, the Town Council shall select a person of the same political party as that of the former office holder. If such former office holder was elected as an independent or minority party candidate, his successor shall be a member of the political party in which said former office holder was enrolled, or in the case the former office holder was not enrolled in a political party, the vacancy shall be filled by an elector not enrolled in a political party.
Vacancies on the Board of Education shall be filled in accordance with the provisions of the General Statutes.
SECTION 11. ELIGIBILITY
No person shall be eligible for election or appointment to fill a vacancy in an elective Town office who is not at the time of his election or appointment an elector of said Town, and any person ceasing to be an elector of said Town shall thereupon cease to hold elective office in the Town. An individual shall not be eligible to hold elective Town office while holding a State or Federal elective office.
CHAPTER III THE TOWN COUNCIL
SECTION 1. THE TOWN COUNCIL
There shall be a Town Council consisting of nine (9) members, the members of which shall serve without compensation except for the reimbursement of actual expenses incurred in the performance of official duties.
No member of the Town Council shall, during his term of office, except as provided in Section 2 of this chapter, hold or accept any position, office or employment under the government of the Town of Ledyard or any political subdivision thereof which is filled by appointment by the Mayor, Town Council, or any board or commission created by ordinance, Charter, or statute. No person holding any elected office under this Charter or provisions of any ordinance or of the General Statutes shall, except as provided in Section 2 of this chapter, be a member of the Town Council during his continuance in such office.
Administrative Notes:
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Nominating Committee Recommendation:
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Minority Representation - CGS 9-167a:
In accordance with Chapter IV; Section 8 of the Town Charter “Except as otherwise provided for in this Charter, the Town Council may appoint members to fill vacancies in other offices, boards, and commissions established by this Charter and by ordinance as vacancies may occur, and appointing members to such offices, boards, and commissions as may be created in the future. Such appointments shall be made by the Town Council for such terms and upon such conditions as provided in the respective ordinance”.
Chapter IV, Section 9: “In making appointments and removals, the Town Council shall act by the affirmative votes of at least a majority of all its members.
All members of boards, commissions, and committees contained in this Charter, or subsequently created under this Charter, except members of the Building Code Board of Appeals, the Fire Marshal, and the Deputy Fire Marshal(s), shall be electors of the Town at the time of their appointment and during their terms of office.”
Connecticut General Statutes
Sec. 9-167a. Minority representation. (a) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, the maximum number of members of any board, commission, legislative body, committee or similar body of the state or any political subdivision thereof, whether elective or appointive, who may be members of the same political party, shall be as specified in the following table:
|
Total Membership |
Maximum from One Party |
|
3 |
2 |
|
4 |
3 |
|
5 |
4 |
|
6 |
4 |
|
7 |
5 |
|
8 |
5 |
|
9 |
6 |
|
More than 9 Two-thirds of total membership |
(2) The provisions of this section shall not apply (A) to any such board, commission, committee or body whose members are elected wholly or partially on the basis of a geographical division of the state or political subdivision, (B) to a legislative body of a municipality (i) having a town meeting as its legislative body or (ii) for which the charter or a special act, on January 1, 1987, provided otherwise or (C) to the city council of an unconsolidated city within a town and the town council of such town if the town has a town council and a representative town meeting, the town charter provides for some form of minority representation in the election of members of the representative town meeting, and the city has a city council and a body having the attributes of a town meeting or (D) to the board of directors and other officers of any district, as defined in section 7-324, having annual receipts from all sources not in excess of two hundred fifty Thousand dollars.
(b) Prior to any election for or appointment to any such body, the municipal clerk, in cases of elections, and the appointing authority, in cases of appointments, shall determine the maximum number of members of any political party who may be elected or appointed to such body at such election or appointment. Such maximum number shall be determined for each political party in the following manner: From the number of members of one political party who are members of such body at the time of the election or appointment, subtract the number of members of such political party whose terms expire prior to the commencement of the terms for which such election or appointment is being held or made and subtract the balance thus arrived at from the appropriate number specified in column II of subsection (a) of this section.