The latest move in the ongoing battle by the Clinton Taxpayers Association (CTA) to overturn Clinton's April referendum approval to build a new, $65 million Morgan School will play out in court.

Following dismissal of an original CTA petition to call a second vote on the matter, CTA submitted a revised, validated petition that sought a June town meeting that would immediately refer to referendum a proposal to nix all but the already-spent $5 million for a new school. That petition was approved by a substitute town attorney but then later dismissed by the town's regular counsel.

Find the July 10 CTA press release in full below and get the complete story, including the latest on potential theft charges of an opposition petition, in the July 19 issue of the Harbor News.

Clinton Taxpayers Association Sues Clinton Board of Selectmen Over Charter Violations

July 10, 2012

The Clinton Taxpayers Association (CTA) has filed a writ of mandamus to compel the Clinton Board of Selectmen (BOS) to place the CTA's petition for a town meeting immediately on the BOS agenda. The petition calls for a reduction of the $64.75 million new Morgan referendum passed on April 11.

"The refusal to place our petition that had been validated by town counsel, with an adequate number of signatures certified by the town clerk, is a denial of the rights of citizens to petition as guaranteed by Clinton's Town Charter," asserted Pamela Fritz, CTA's president.

"The issue transcends the question of a new school. It's about following the Town Charter," said Fritz.

She continued, "The BOS has refused to take action on the petition, refused to call a special town meeting, refused public discussion of the petition, and refused to place the petition on the agenda of a selectmen's meeting. It seems the BOS is ignoring the fact that Clinton has a town meeting form of government and we, the citizens, are the legislative body.

"We are simply defending our citizens' rights to petition under the Town Charter. This principal is fundamental to democracy. What the first selectman did by unilaterally canceling the scheduled June 26 Town Meeting and the subsequent roadblocking of the inclusion of the petition on the BOS agenda on June 27 diametrically opposes our Town Charter. We are confident the court will agree." Fritz added.

The CTA is able to continue its fight with the generous financial support of more than 100 supporters who continue to tangibly support the CTA's efforts.

"The First Selectman's claim that the new high school will cost the average taxpayer just $90 per year is inaccurate. It will in fact cost each taxpayer about nine percent of their current tax bill annually for 20 years. That's on top of the fact that Clinton has the highest mill rate and the second highest annual cost per student of our shoreline neighboring towns," pointed out Len Fried, CTA Morgan Task Force Chair.

The CTA exhausted every political and communications avenue before taking this step, but there appears to be no other avenue to resolve this charter crisis.

"The stakes in terms of cost to taxpayers and in demanding good governance are too high to let the BOS members violate their oaths of office to fulfill our democratically established Town Charter," Fritz concluded.