All appointed Officers, Boards and Commissions shall have the
powers and duties prescribed by the General Statutes and the Charter.
The Board of Selectmen shall appoint the following Officers,
Boards and Commissions:
|
(a) Officers
|
Term
(if any, in years)
| |
|---|---|---|
|
Animal Control Officer
| ||
|
Assessor
|
4
| |
|
Building Inspector
|
4
| |
|
Emergency Management Director
| ||
|
Fire Marshall
|
2
| |
|
Tax Collector
|
2
| |
|
Town Attorney
|
2
| |
|
Tree Warden
|
1
|
|
(b) Boards and Commissions
|
Number of Members
|
Term
(in years)
| |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Board of Ethics
|
5
|
2
| |
|
Building Board of Appeals
|
5
|
5
| |
|
Commission for Children and Youth
|
9 (including 2 students)
|
3
| |
|
Commission for the Arts
|
7
|
2
| |
|
Commission on Aging
|
7
|
2
| |
|
Conservation Commission
|
7
|
4
| |
|
Historic District Commission
|
5 (plus 3 alternates)
|
5
| |
|
Library Board
|
9
|
4
| |
|
Panel of Moderators
|
4
|
4
| |
|
Parks and Recreation Commission
|
7
|
4
|
(a)
The Board of Selectmen shall make the appointments described in Section
8.2 not later than (i) the December 31 following or coincident with
the expiration of the applicable individual's term of office,
or (ii) 60 days following the expiration of such term of office, whichever
occurs sooner. Such appointees shall take office on the effective
date of their appointment. The Board of Selectmen shall give Public
Notice of the expiration of the term of office of any member of an
appointed Board or Commission not less than 30 days prior to such
expiration date.
(b)
Except as otherwise provided by law, a Chairman and Vice-Chairman
of each appointed Board or Commission shall be elected each year by
the membership of that Board or Commission during the month of January;
provided, however, that at no time shall any person be eligible to
be elected as Chairman who has served in that office for eight or
more successive years, and provided further that any newly constituted
appointed Board or Commission shall elect a Chairman and Vice-Chairman
by its second meeting.
(c)
The meetings of appointed Boards and Commissions shall be conducted,
and notice and minutes thereof shall be made available, in accordance
with the provisions of the State Freedom of Information Act and otherwise
in accordance with the General Statutes.
No more than a bare majority of any appointed Board or Commission
shall consist of members of the same political party. For example,
no more than three of the five members of the Board of Ethics can
be members of the same political party. In addition, no more than
a bare majority of alternate members of any appointed Board or Commission
may be members of the same political party. Terms for members of Boards
and Commissions shall continue to be staggered in the same manner
as on the effective date of this amended and restated Charter.
(a)
Vacancies in appointed Officers, Boards or Commissions shall be filled
for the unexpired term by vote of the Board of Selectmen, unless otherwise
provided in the statutes, ordinance or resolution creating the same.
The Board of Selectmen shall give Public Notice of any such vacancy.
(b)
Any appointed Official may be removed for (i) any of the reasons
set forth in Section 7.7, or (ii) failure to attend three consecutively
scheduled meetings of the Official's Board or Commission without
having given the Chairman or Vice-Chairman of such entity prior notice
of such absence with reasons therefor, so long as in either case the
process for such removal mandated by Section 7.7 is adhered to. In
addition, except as otherwise provided by law, any appointed Official
(other than the Town Attorney (but see Section 8.6(a)(i), below))
may be removed from office or from membership on such Board, Commission
or committee for any reason by the Board of Selectmen; provided that,
if the individual is affiliated with a political party, an affirmative
vote to remove such individual is cast by at least one Selectman who
is of the same party as the person so removed.
(a)
Town Attorney.
(i)
The Town Attorney shall be an attorney at law admitted to practice
law in the State. Unless otherwise provided in this Section 8.6(a),
the Town Attorney shall appear for and protect the rights of the Town
in all actions, suits, or proceedings brought by or against it or
any of its Officials, Boards, Commissions or committees. The Board
of Selectmen, in its discretion, may remove the Town Attorney and
appoint a new Town Attorney.
(ii)
The Town Attorney shall be the legal advisor to all Officers,
Boards or Commissions in all matters affecting the Town and shall,
upon prior written approval of the First Selectman, which shall not
be unreasonably withheld, furnish them with an opinion on any questions
of law submitted by such Officer, Board or Commission involving their
respective powers and duties.
(iii)
Upon request the Town Attorney shall prepare or approve forms
of contracts or other instruments to which the Town is a party or
in which it has an interest.
(iv)
The Board of Selectmen shall have the right, with regard to
any matter, to retain counsel other than the Town Attorney. The attorney
so selected shall act at the direction of the Board of Selectmen.
However, if the Board of Selectmen, or any Selectman, is an adversary
party to the Town and/or any of its Officers, Boards, or Commissions,
in that particular case, such counsel shall be appointed for the latter
by the Board of Finance. The Town shall be under no obligation to
supply counsel for any person with respect to any allegation of wrongdoing
in office for personal gain or in the event that the Board of Selectmen
is seeking to remove such person from office.
(b)
Conservation Commission
The Conservation Commission shall be the Commission that implements
"The Inland Wetlands and Water Courses Act" and all applicable regulations
adopted pursuant thereto.
(c)
Panel of Moderators
Each moderator shall be a Resident Elector and shall have a
working knowledge of or a demonstrable ability to easily comprehend
basic parliamentary procedure and specifically, Robert's Rules
of Order. The Panel of Moderators shall draft a common set of procedures
to be used at all Town Meetings, using Robert's Rules of Order
as a guideline. This shall be called the "Weston Town Moderators Handbook."
The Panel of Moderators may revise the Handbook from time to time.
(d)
Tax Collector
(i)
The office of Tax Collector shall remain an elected office until
the biennial elections occurring in 2013.
(ii)
In addition, not less than five percent of Qualified Voters
may at any time file with the Town Clerk a petition that conforms
to the requirements of Section 7-9 and 7-9a of the General Statutes
requesting that a machine ballot be held to determine whether the
position of Tax Collector should become an elected position under
the Charter. If, however, such proposed action has been voted upon
by machine ballot within the preceding three years, the Board of Selectmen,
in its sole discretion, may reject such petition and not hold a machine
ballot on this issue.
Unless the petition has been rejected pursuant to the foregoing provisions of this Section 8.6(d)(ii), the Board of Selectmen shall call a Special Town Meeting, to be held not less than ten nor more than thirty days after the date the petition was filed with the Town Clerk. After adequate discussion of this issue, the moderator shall adjourn the Town Meeting and the question of whether the Tax Collector shall be an elected position shall be submitted to the Qualified Voters, not less than seven days nor more than fourteen days thereafter, for a "yes" or "no" vote on the voting machines during the hours permitted by Section 7-7 of the General Statutes. If a majority of those voting vote "yes," the position of Tax Collector shall become an elected position, with a two-year term commencing upon the expiration of the term of office of the then Tax Collector, and the position of Tax Collector shall otherwise be subject to the provisions of Article 6 applicable to elected Officers, without further action of the Board of Selectmen; otherwise the position of Tax Collector shall remain an appointed office.
(a)
The amount of compensation, if any, to be paid to appointed Officers
shall be set as provided in General Statutes, applicable Special Acts,
ordinances and resolutions, and in absence thereof, by the Board of
Selectmen.
(b)
If approved in advance by the First Selectman (or the First Selectman's
designee), necessary non-budgeted expenses incurred by an appointed
Officer or member of an appointed Board or Commission in connection
with the performance of such Officer's or member's duties
shall be paid by the Town upon the requisition of such Officer, Board
or Commission in writing and approval of the Board of Selectmen.
(c)
All fees, fines and levies of every kind paid to or on behalf of
any appointed Officer, Board or Commission shall, to the extent not
otherwise provided by General Statutes, applicable Special Acts, ordinances
and resolutions, promptly be remitted to the Treasurer and added to
the General Fund of the Town.
