(a) The powers which are conferred and the duties which are imposed upon
any commission, board, department, agency or office under the General
Statutes or Special Acts concerning the Town or any ordinance or regulation,
in force at the time this Charter shall take effect, if such commission,
board, department, agency or office is abolished by this Charter or
superseded by the creation herein of a new commission, board, department,
agency or office to which are granted similar powers and jurisdiction,
shall be thereafter exercised and discharged by the commission, board,
department, agency or office upon which are imposed corresponding
or like functions, powers and duties under the provisions of this
Charter.
(b) All commissions, boards, departments or offices abolished by this
Charter, whether elective or appointive shall continue in the performance
of their duties 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, agencies
or offices created under this Charter and until the Town Clerk shall
have notified the members of such commission, board, department, agency
or office as are abolished by this Charter that their successors have
qualified.
(c) All elected and appointed officials and elected members of boards
and commissions whose offices and positions are not abolished by this
Charter and whose terms of office do not expire until after the effective
date of this Charter shall remain in office until the expiration of
their terms or until their successors are elected and qualified.
All employees and appointive officials 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
Town Council or the appropriate officer charged by this Charter with
powers of appointment or removal. Any provisions 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 commission, board, department, agency
or office thereof, shall continue to be in effect, until or unless
amended or repealed in accordance with the provisions of this Charter.
Any records, property and equipment whatsoever of any commission,
board, department, agency or office or part thereof, all the powers
and duties of which are assigned to any other commission, board, department,
agency or office by this Charter, shall be transferred and delivered
intact forthwith to the commission, board, department, agency or office
to which such powers and duties are so assigned. If part of the powers
and duties of any commission, board, department, agency or office
are by this Charter assigned to another commission, board, department,
agency or office all records, property and equipment relating exclusively
thereto shall be transferred and delivered intact forthwith to the
commission, board, department, agency 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 under
the provisions of this Charter.
No action or proceedings, civil or criminal, pending on the
effective date of this Charter brought by or against the Town or any
commission, board, department, agency 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, agency or office which shall have been a party
thereto may, by or under this Charter, be assigned or transferred
to another commission, board, department, agency or office but in
that event the same may be prosecuted or defended by the head of the
office, agency, board, or commission 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 General Assembly
relating to the Town of New Milford, not inconsistent with the provisions
of this Charter are hereby retained. All references in this Charter
to the "General Statutes" or "Connecticut General Statutes" shall
mean the Connecticut General Statutes.
This Charter may be amended in the manner prescribed by state
statutes. The Town Council shall review the special 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 five
(5) years, said review to be published as part of the Annual Town
Report.
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 said 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.
The effective date of this Charter shall be December 6, 2018,
and shall become effective upon approval by a majority of the Town
electors voting hereon at a regular or special election as determined
by the Town Council and in accordance with the provisions of Chapter
99 of the General Statutes.
With respect to this Charter, words in the masculine include
the feminine gender.
The Town Council shall be responsible for maintaining, through
Ordinance, a Code of Ethics, pertaining to all town officials, in
accordance with Section 7-148h of the Connecticut General Statutes.
Upon commencement of a Charter Revision Commission, the Town Council
shall review the Code of Ethics for potential revisions.