Effective as of the first Monday of December, 2017, all commissions,
boards, departments or offices existing prior to the adoption of this
Charter are abolished or superseded by this Charter as the case may
be. The powers which are conferred, the duties which are imposed upon
and the terms of office established for any commission, board, department
or office under the General Statutes, or any ordinance or regulation,
in force at the time this Charter shall take effect, if such commission,
board, department or office is abolished by this Charter or superseded
by the creation herein of a new term of office for any commission,
board or office to which are granted similar powers and jurisdiction,
shall be thereafter exercised and discharged by the commission, board,
department or office upon which are imposed corresponding or like
functions, powers and duties under the provisions of this Charter.
Commissions, boards, departments or offices existing prior to the
adoption date of this Charter whether elective or appointive shall
continue in the performance of their duties until the first Monday
of December, 2017 or until provisions shall have been made for the
discontinuance of such commissions, boards, departments or offices
and the performance of their duties by other commissions, boards,
departments or offices created under this Charter and until the Town
Clerk shall have notified the members of such commissions, boards,
departments or offices as are abolished by this Charter that their
successors have qualified.
All employees of the Town on the effective date of this Charter,
whose positions are not abolished by the provisions of this Charter,
shall retain such positions pending action by the Board of Selectmen
or the appropriate officer charged by this Charter with powers of
appointment and removal. Any provision of law in force at the time
this Charter shall take effect, and not inconsistent with the provisions
of this Charter, in relation to personnel, appointments, ranks, grades,
tenure of office, promotions, removals, pension and retirement rights,
civil rights, or any other rights or privileges of employees of the
Town or any office, department or agency thereof, shall continue to
be in effect, until or unless amended or repealed in accordance with
the provisions of this Charter.
It is hereby declared to be the policy of the Town that any
elected or appointed officer, any member of any board or commission,
or any employee of the Town who has a financial interest direct or
indirect, in any contract, transaction or decision of any officer
or agent of the Town or any board or commission, shall disclose that
interest to the Board of Selectmen which shall record such disclosure
upon the official record of its meetings. Such disclosure of a financial
interest, direct or indirect, in any contract, transaction or decision
of any officer or agent of the Town or of any board or commission
shall disqualify such elected or appointed official or such member
of a board or commission or such Town employee from participation
in the awarding, assignment or discussion of said contract, transaction
or decision. Violation by any such official, board or commission member
or employee of the provisions of this section shall be grounds for
his or her removal.
All records, property, and equipment whatsoever of any commission,
board, department or office or part thereof, all the powers and duties
of which are assigned to any other commission, board, department or
office by this Charter, shall be transferred and delivered intact
forthwith to the commission, board, department or office to which
such powers and duties are so assigned. If part of the powers and
duties of any commission, board, department or office are by this
Charter assigned to another commission, board, department, or office,
all records, property and equipment relating exclusively thereto shall
be transferred and delivered intact forthwith to the commission, board,
department or office to which such powers and duties are so assigned.
All appropriations approved and in force, and all funds, including
special or reserve funds in the name of the Town, at the time of the
adoption of this Charter, shall remain in full force and effect unless
and until the same shall be amended, transferred or abolished by the
Board of Finance under the provisions of this Charter.
No action or proceeding, civil or criminal, pending on the effective
date of this Charter brought by or against the Town or any commission,
board, department or office thereof, shall be affected or abated by
the adoption of this Charter or by anything herein contained; but
all such actions or proceedings may be continued notwithstanding that
functions, powers and duties of any commission, board, department
or officer which shall have been a party thereto may, by or under
this Charter, be assigned or transferred to another commission, board,
department or the officer to which such functions, powers and duties
have been assigned or transferred by or under this Charter.
All general laws of the State of Connecticut applicable to the
Town and all ordinances of the Town shall continue in full force and
effect, except insofar as they are inconsistent with the provisions
of this Charter. The provisions of all Special Acts of the General
Assembly relating to the Town of Simsbury not inconsistent with the
provisions of this Charter are hereby retained.
The Board of Selectmen shall review the several provisions of
this Charter from time to time as it deems such review to be in the
best interest of the Town, but not less often than once every seven
(7) years from the effective date of this Charter, such review to
be published as part of the annual Town report. The amendment of this
Charter may be initiated (a) by a two-thirds vote of the entire Board
of Selectmen or (b) by a petition signed by not less than ten percent
(10%) of the Electors of the Town, as determined by the last completed
registry list of the Town, such initiation in either instance to result
in the appointment by the Board of Selectmen of a Charter Revision
Commission, which shall consider any proposed amendments to the existing
Charter. Such proposed amendments shall not become effective until
and unless they shall have been approved by a majority of the Town
Electors voting thereon at a regular election or, if approved at a
special election, by a majority equal to at least fifteen percent
(15%) of the Electors of the Town as determined by the last completed
registry list of the Town. The provisions of Chapter 99 of the General
Statutes as may now or hereafter apply to the manner of amending the
Charter shall prevail in the event of any conflict with the provisions
of this section of the Charter.
If any section or part of any section of this Charter shall
be held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such holding
shall not affect the remainder of this Charter nor the context in
which the section or part thereof so held invalid may appear, except
to the extent that an entire section or part of a section may be inseparably
connected in meaning and effect with the section or part of the section
to which such ruling shall directly apply.
(a)
When the context so requires, the masculine gender shall include
the feminine, and the singular shall include the plural, and the plural
the singular; and
(b)
Unless otherwise indicated, all references to the Connecticut General
Statutes in this Charter are to the provisions of the General Statutes
in effect on the date of the adoption of this Charter. However, in
the event that those provisions in effect on the date of the adoption
of this Charter are subsequently amended, revised, and/or recodified
by the Connecticut State Legislature, all references to such provisions
shall be deemed to be to the provision as subsequently amended, revised
and/or recodified. The sections of the Connecticut General Statutes
referred to in this Charter shall be abbreviated as C.G.S. Sections
of the statutes shall be designated "§ " for the singular
and "§§ " for the plural.
Except as set forth in Section 1001, this Charter, as revised,
shall become effective on the first Monday of December, 2017, if approved
by a majority of the Town Electors voting hereon at a regular or a
special election as determined by the Board of Selectmen and in accordance
with the provisions of Chapter 99 of the General Statutes.
