There shall be a Town Council consisting of the Mayor and ten
(10) other Councilors. The compensation of members of the Town Council,
if any, and reimbursement for expenses incurred in the performance
of their duties shall be established by ordinance.
Except as otherwise provided in this Charter, the Mayor shall
have no executive or administrative authority, but shall serve as
the official representative of the Town for all ceremonial purposes.
With effective input from Town Council members if it is timely provided,
the Mayor shall, with the Town Manager, prepare the agendas for all
regular and special Council meetings. If present, the Mayor shall
be the presiding officer of any such Council meeting Should the mayoral
position become vacant prior to the next election, the Town Council
vacancy left by the Mayor shall be filled pursuant to Article III-7
of this Charter.
Except as otherwise provided in this Charter, the Town Council
shall have the powers and duties conferred by law on town councils,
boards of selectmen and town meetings. Except as otherwise provided
in this Charter, the legislative power of the Town shall be vested
in the Town Council. The Town Council shall have the power to (a)
enact, amend or repeal ordinances and resolutions not inconsistent
with this Charter or the General Statutes providing for the preservation
of good order, peace, health, safety and welfare of the Town and its
inhabitants; (b) create or abolish by ordinance boards, authorities,
commissions, departments or offices except those established by Sections
VII-4, VII-5, VII-6, VII-7, VII-8 and VII-9 of this Charter and the
elected offices established by Article IV of this Charter; (c) establish
by resolution such study, advisory or consulting committees and such
employment positions as the Board may determine to be necessary or
appropriate for the general welfare of the Town, (d) establish by
resolution the salaries, if any, and the provisions for reimbursable
expenses of all appointive officials, and (e) ratify contracts of
all recognized labor unions. The Town Council may contract for services
and the use of facilities of the United States or any federal agency,
the State of Connecticut and any political subdivision thereof, or
may, by agreement, join with such political subdivision to provide
services and facilities. The Town Council shall determine the amount
of general revenue provided by the State of Connecticut to the Town
pursuant to the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program and any
other similar funds that shall be allocated to the taxing district(s)
by the Town.
The Town Council shall fix the time and place of its regular
meetings and provide a method for the calling of special meetings.
It shall determine its own rules of procedure provided that the Mayor
shall chair all such meetings if present and shall have the power
to vote on any matter. The Town Council shall designate a chairperson,
pro tempore, to serve when the Mayor is absent. The presence of seven
(7) members, not including any members who reasonably recuse themselves
on the matter before the Council shall constitute a quorum; however,
and notwithstanding any provision to the contrary or to any reference
to "majority vote," no motion, ordinance, resolution or otherwise,
except to adjourn or to fix the time and place of its meeting, shall
be adopted by less than five (5) affirmative votes. The Town Council
shall keep for public inspection a record of all its proceedings,
including all votes.
All ordinances shall be confined to one subject which shall
be clearly stated in the title. The Town Council is authorized in
adopting ordinances to incorporate any nationally recognized code,
rules and regulations that have been printed in book form, or any
code officially adopted by any administrative agency of the State,
or any portion thereof, by reference thereto in such ordinances; provided,
upon adoption of any such ordinance wherein any such code, rules,
any regulations or portions thereof have been incorporated by reference
there shall be maintained two copies of such code, rules and regulation
in the office of the Town Clerk for examination by the public. At
least one (1) public hearing shall be held by the Town Council on
any proposed ordinance before any ordinance shall be passed.
Notice of the public hearing shall be given at least five (5)
days in advance by posting the notice in a public place and by publishing
the notices in a newspaper having a substantial circulation in the
Town. The notice shall contain a summary of the proposed ordinance
and the Town Clerk shall make a copy of such proposed ordinance available
for public inspection and shall, upon request, mail a copy at no charge
to any person requesting a copy. Every ordinance, after passage, shall
be filed with the Town Clerk, and recorded and compiled as required
by law.
Within ten (10) days after passage a summary of the ordinance
as adopted shall be published once in a newspaper having a substantial
circulation in the Town. Every ordinance, unless it shall specify
a later date, shall become effective on the twenty-first (21st) day
after such publication.
All ordinances adopted by the Town Council, except emergency
ordinances adopted in accordance with Section V-8, shall be subject
to repeal by referendum. Within twenty (20) days after the publication
of a summary of the ordinance, any elector of the Town may file with
the Town Clerk a petition which conforms with the requirements of
Section 7-9 of the General Statutes, as amended, except as provided
herein, and requests that such ordinance be either repealed or submitted
to referendum. The petition shall be signed in ink or indelible pencil
by qualified electors of the Town numbering at least two hundred (200)
or ten percent (10%) of the electors voting in the last regular Town
election, whichever is less. Each page of the petition shall contain
the signed statement of each circulator as provided in said Section
7-9. The filing of such a petition shall suspend the effective date
of the ordinance. The Town Clerk shall, within five (5) days after
receipt of a petition, certify the petition to the Town Council if
the Town Clerk determines that the petition complies with the provision
of this Charter. If the Town Council fails to repeal such ordinance
within thirty (30) days after receipt of such certification, the Council
shall schedule a referendum to be held within forty-five (45) days
of the end of the period in which the Town Council has to reconsider
such ordinance. All electors of the Town shall be eligible to vote.
Notice of the referendum, including the text of the ordinance subject
to repeal, shall be published in a newspaper which has a substantial
circulation in the Town at least thirty (30) days before the referendum.
An ordinance submitted to referendum shall be repealed and of no effect
if (1) a majority of those electors voting thereon vote to repeal
the ordinance, and (2) the number of electors who vote in the referendum
is one thousand (1,000) or more. If the ordinance is not repealed,
it shall take effect on the day following the referendum.
Any elector of the Town may file with the Town Clerk a petition
which conforms with the requirements of Section 7-9 of the General
Statutes, as amended, except as provided herein, and requests that
a proposed ordinance be adopted. The petition shall be signed in ink
or indelible pencil by qualified electors of the Town numbering at
least two hundred (200) or ten percent (10%) of the electors voting
in the last regular Town election, whichever is less. The petition
shall contain the full text of the proposed ordinance and the proposed
ordinance shall not be contrary to law. Each page of the petition
shall contain the signed statement of each circulator as provided
in said Section 7-9. The Town Clerk shall, within five (5) days after
receipt of a petition, certify the petition to the Town Council if
the Town Clerk determines that the petition complies with the provisions
of this Charter. If the Town fails to adopt the proposed ordinance,
without any substantial change, within thirt (30) days after receipt
of such certification, the Town Council shall schedule a referendum
to be held within forty-five (45) days of the end of the period in
which the Town Council has to adopt such proposed ordinance. All electors
of the Town shall be eligible to vote. Notice of the referendum, including
the text of the proposed ordinance, shall be published in a newspaper
which has a substantial circulation in the Town at least thirty (30)
days before the referendum. The proposed ordinance shall take effect
on the day following the referendum, unless a later date is specified,
if (1) a majority of those electors voting thereon vote to approve
the proposed ordinance, and (2) the number of electors who vote in
the referendum is one thousand (1,000) or more. No ordinance which
shall have been adopted by referendum in accordance with the provisions
of this Section may be repealed or amended during a period of five
years from its adoption, except by a subsequent referendum vote following
the procedures outlined in this Section (except that the Town Council
may initiate such a referendum vote without a petition being filed).
An ordinance stated to be a public emergency measure and stating
the facts constituting such public emergency shall become effective
immediately after publication thereof as required in Section V-5 of
this Charter, and no public hearing or notice of public hearing shall
be required for any public emergency ordinance. Every such public
emergency ordinance including any amendments thereto, shall automatically
stand repealed at the termination of the sixty-first day following
final passage of such an ordinance.
The Town Council may, at its discretion, convene any or all
town officials, boards, authorities, commissions or committees to
review, plan or coordinate activities and operations of the town government,
and may require reports to be submitted to it from all elected and
appointed officials, boards, authorities, commissions and committees.
The Town Council and Board of Finance shall have the power to
investigate any and all offices and agencies of the Town including
the Department of Education, and for such purposes the Council shall
have the power necessary to subpoena or call witnesses to appear before
the Council to testify on any matter under investigation, and the
Board of Finance shall have the authority to call witnesses to appear
before it to testify on any matter under investigation.
Upon receipt of the results of the decennial census from the
Bureau of the Census, the Town Clerk shall report to the Mayor and
the Town Council the relative percentiles of residents residing in
the Windham Voting District and the Willimantic Voting District. The
Town Clerk shall determine the total percentile of the population
of the Town of Windham residing in each voting district and report
said number to the Mayor and the Town Council as well as to the Secretary
of the State and the Town Attorney.
Upon receipt of said certified percentiles, for all subsequent
municipal elections, until the result of the next decennial census
is certified, the ratio of Councilors to be elected to represent only
one of the two voting districts rather than the town at-large, as
set forth in Article IV-3(b), above, shall as accurately and as practically
possible reflect the percentage ratio of the population of one voting
district to the other in accordance with the legal principles set
forth in the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Reynolds
v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 (1964), as determined by the Town Attorney,
and certified to and by the Town Clerk. In the event that said results
are not available and certified to the Mayor, Town Council and Secretary
of the State and Town Attorney within six months prior to the next
scheduled municipal election, said reapportionment shall not become
effective until the next subsequent municipal election