Norwich – The City Council on Monday rejected four proposed charter changes pertaining to the mayor’s office, City Council, terms of school board members and certain powers of the city manager, while approving several other provisions to be sent to the voters in November.

In the culmination of the Charter Revision Commission’s 17 months of work, the City Council rejected a proposal to eliminate language in the charter that allows the mayor to hire an economic development assistant, and also wanted to reserve for the council the election of a council president pro tempore. The commission had recommended the position go to the highest council vote-getter.

Although none of the four mayors who have served since the position was created in 2001 have hired an economic development assistant, aldermen voted unanimously to keep the current charter language allowing for the position. Alderman Mark Bettencourt said it provided the chief elected official with flexibility to hire staff.

The council liked the idea of changing the council president pro tempore title to “deputy mayor,” but rejected the provision because the charter commission also proposed that the deputy mayor seat go to the highest council vote-getter. The council preferred to keep the authority of appointing the council president pro tempore.

Another proposal to allow the city manager the authority to restructure or reorganize any city department also was rejected in a 5-2 vote. Council President Pro Tempore Francois, “Pete,” Desaulniers said he felt current charter language gives the city manager authority to change department structure already.

The only other measure rejected was a plan to allow the nine Board of Education members to have four-year staggered terms. Aldermen did not comment on that vote, but during a joint meeting in early May, aldermen had argued for the same change for council members. The charter commission, however, rejected that idea.

Following Monday’s meeting, Charter Revision Commission Chairman Les King said he was not surprised by any of the council’s votes, although he had hoped the charter changes would have been approved intact. He said the commission felt school board members would benefit from a longer learning curve to deal with complex state mandates and education issues, while council members needed to be “closer to the voters.”

The council approved several other recommended charter changes, including one to increase the amount of the annual budget that must be spent on capital improvements from 1 mill to 2 percent of the previous year’s annual budget. Other changes would allow Norwich Public Utilities to enter into longer contracts, 25 years instead of 10 years, and would expand the utility’s bonding authority without requiring referendum if the bonds are to be paid by utility revenue instead of tax money.

Corporation Counsel Michael Driscoll will now write the referendum questions on the proposed changes that will be placed on the Nov. 3 election ballot.

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