East Lyme ― Eleven residents representing various facets of town life have been given the responsibility of recommending changes to the town charter for the first time in 13 years.

The Board of Selectmen appointed the 11 at its meeting Wednesday and they will now carry out the strict charter revision process outlined by state law. Selectmen gave them 10 months to address a specific list of possible changes, while also authorizing them to investigate additional changes they deem “desirable or necessary.”

Members include numerous high-ranking former and current public officials, town staff members and a Pfizer executive. There are four Republicans, four Democrats and three unaffiliated voters.

The commission will explore more than a dozen revisions, including one that would reverse the automatic budget referendum enacted during the last charter revision.

Charter revision was part of First Selectman Kevin Seery’s platform during his race last year to replace Mark Nickerson, who did not run for reelection. Seery likened the charter to a local version of the country’s Constitution.

The goal is to send the commission’s final recommendations, which must be approved by selectmen, to voters at referendum in the 2023 municipal election. There must be one public hearing held before the commission begins any substantive work and one held after it produces a draft report.

The charter was last revised in 2009. That’s when it was decided that taxpayers would automatically head to the polls to cast their votes on the annual budget. Prior to that, budgets were passed at town meetings where residents had the authority to make changes on the spot.

Opponents of going to an automatic referendum 13 years ago said they were worried about losing their ability to reduce the budget at the Town Meeting. It was a privilege not often invoked. Officials could only recall one successful effort almost two decades’ prior during which a resident successfully campaigned to reduce the budget.

Proponents back then said a referendum vote would promote participation.

Former First Selectman Paul Formica, now in his final term as a state senator, said at the time that previous annual town meetings had attracted a crowd of a few hundred people, while more than 1,000 people usually voted at a referendum.

But Seery recently told The Day the annual budget hasn’t been a big draw at the polls.

“This year, 4.5% of the registered voters voted in the referendum,” he said of the $80.6 million budget approved in May. While the spending plan increased over the previous year, officials actually reduced the tax rate by 4.67 mills with the help of an increase to the grandl list and a healthy rainy day fund.

Turnout amounted to 598 voters out of 13,231.

The town has spent about $100,000 on referendum-related expenses in total since the last charter revision, according to Seery.

Another item for consideration by the commission involves considering of an assistant to the first selectman. Described in the draft resolution as an “operations officer,” Seery said the position is also known in other places as a town administrator.

A town administrator does not serve as the town’s chief executive officer, like a town manager or a first selectman.

Seery said the position would provide assistance with general complaints, personnel and union matters, and other day-to-day needs to allow the first selectman to spend more time on broader issues and long-term planning.

Some items on the commission’s list have been pitched as an attempt to bolster professionalism and continuity. One involves turning the town clerk and tax collector into administrative rather than elected positions. Another would remove the residency requirement for several appointed positions, including emergency management director, tree warden, building official, building inspector and fire marshal.

Seery said the update is needed to ensure qualified personnel are available to fill those roles.

Also up for consideration is an increase in the threshold for the approval of special appropriations at a town meeting. Currently, any spending in excess of $10,000 must go to a public vote after approval by the Board of Finance and the selectmen. The recommendation would leave it up to the commission to investigate an appropriate increase.

The commission has also been tasked with exploring a merger of the planning and zoning commissions, extension of terms on the Board of Selectmen to four years, and elimination of references to constables that no longer exist in town, among others.

The commission members include Republicans Jeffrey McNamara, the current probate judge and former selectman; Marc Salerno, former selectman and Zoning Commission chairman; Tim Hagen, former Board of Education chairman; Larry Fitzgerald, current Library Board of Trustees president and former Planning Commission member.

The Democrats are Beth Hogan, former first selectwoman and Board of Finance member; Barry Sheckley, former Board of Education member; Jay Ginsberg, current alternate member on the Zoning Commission and Vivek Purohik, a Pfizer executive.

The unaffiliated members are Wayne Blair, current Zoning Board of Appeals member and former Crescent Point zoning enforcement officer; Maryanna Stevens, the current finance director for the school system and Anna Johnson, the town’s former finance director.

e.regan@theday.com