Stonington Borough will hold Aug. 24 forum to hear options for its future
Stonington — The borough will hold a third community forum at 6 p.m. Aug. 24 at the LaGrua Center to discuss options for its future.
Borough Warden Jeff Callahan said the forums are the outgrowth of discussions in the winter of 2016 among a small group of residents who were concerned about borough businesses and the challenges they face.
He said those discussions led to the first forum, which focused on three areas — borough merchants, nonprofit organizations and government. The first forum, held last summer, featured a representative from each area.
While residents can spend more money at local businesses and donate more to borough nonprofits, Callahan said the one area they have the most say in is borough government.
The second forum, also held last summer, presented three possible options for the future of borough government and gave residents a chance to provide input.
They were: do nothing, and, according to Callahan, assume young, civic-minded people eventually will take over the operation of borough government; create a charter revision commission to make borough government more sustainable, or disband the borough.
Since then the borough has hired a consultant to study those options. Callahan said the options and variations of them will be presented at the Aug. 24 forum.
“What we hear (from residents) at the forum will guide us in where to go from here,” he said.
The Board of Warden and Burgesses then will decide whether or not to start the process to form a charter commission or disband the borough. Both efforts could take two years or more. A referendum vote would be required, though, to approve any charter changes or to disband the borough.
Callahan declined to say if he favors one of the options.
“I don’t want to color the discussion. I want to hear what the people want,” he said.
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