East Lyme — The Board of Selectmen is considering modifying the Board of Police Commissioners ordinance to remove First Selectman Mark Nickerson as a voting member.

Nickerson would stay on the commission as an ex-officio member and would still have all the rights as a regular member, except he would not be able to vote. He would still attend and participate in Police Commission meetings, Police Commission Chairman Dan Price said.

News of the proposal, however, raised questions about whether the change would align with the town’s charter passed in the early 1950s. Proponents of the move, which included Price and Nickerson, say removing Nickerson as a voting member is the next logical step for the commission now that the town has successfully operated its own independent police force for more than two years.

Price likened the change to the Board of Education or the Parks and Recreation Commission, which have jurisdiction over hiring their own department heads and employees without the first selectman having a vote on those boards. The Police Commission would continue to function in a similar way, Price said — governing the police department, appointing, promoting and removing officers and members of the department, while still needing approval of the Board of Selectmen to carry out such decisions.

Without the first selectman's vote, Price said the Commission would more easily be able to vote for its own needs and would avoid potential conflicts of interest with Nickerson or any future first selectman.

“The office of first selectman may have one purview or one view of certain things and the police commission may have another,” Price said. “The first selectman’s job is to run the entire town and take account of everything, the budget primarily. The Police Commission’s job is to do what’s best for the police department. Period. Now sometimes the two don’t align.”

The Police Commission has six members appointed by the Board of Selectmen, including two retired state troopers, a current member of the National Guard, as well as former town politicians, Price said by phone Thursday. Price was previously a selectman in town after also having served as a member of the Zoning Commission.

The ordinance governing the commission was passed by the Board of Selectmen in November 2016 as the town was stepping away from its resident state trooper program and forming its independent police force.

Because the town charter states that the first selectman functions as chief of police, the Board of Selectmen in 2016, while passing the ordinance included Nickerson on that commission to both oversee and guide the group through its formation years.

Nickerson said he also was instrumental in steering the town through its transition from the resident state trooper program to its independent police force.

The proposed ordinance is nearly identical to the ordinance that was originally passed in November 2016, except that it no longer includes a line stating that the first selectman shall have the right to vote at meetings. It states in both versions of the ordinance that “no member of the Board of Police Commissioners shall hold any other elective or appointed office within the town.”

Nickerson, who supported the idea, equated the proposed move to cutting “that umbilical cord” and letting the commission “be independent from my office and report back.”

Selectwoman Rose Ann Hardy said she felt the change would not align with the town charter, which states that the first selectman should function as chief of police. Hardy acknowledged by phone Thursday that the charter, which was passed in the 1950s, made more sense while the town functioned under the resident state trooper program and which included oversight of the town’s constables. Still, she felt the town should hold true to its original charter or revise the charter to account for the possibility of a changed ordinance.

"The charter is supposed to be the backbone. Same as the U.S. Constitution. You don't change the Constitution without making an amendment. There is a process," Hardy said.

Hardy also noted that without Nickerson acting as a voting member of the commission, the appointed members of the commission may not have the appropriate oversight while making important decisions that impact public safety and health of the town.

Price said the charter language is essentially moot now that the town’s police force has its own police chief, who reports to the Police Commission.

At last week’s Board of Selectmen meeting, Selectman Kevin Seery agreed with the proposed idea, stating it was smart as Nickerson could face a conflict of interest during votes. He said it was possible that Nickerson could have two votes, for say, a critical issue, acting as the swing vote on the Police Commission, and then again on the Board of Selectmen.

“I think that was an unintended consequence that nobody first saw when we first put the commission together,” Price said. “We’ve all seen it and we are just trying to be proactive.”

A public hearing will be held at the next Board of Selectmen meeting at 7:15 p.m. Nov. 6 to discuss the issue.

m.biekert@theday.com