The powers which are conferred and the duties imposed upon any commission, board, department or office under the General Statutes or any ordinance or regulation in force at the time this Charter shall take effect shall continue in full force and effect, except as they may conflict with this Charter.
If any commission, board, department or office is abolished by the adoption of this Charter or superseded by the creation of a new commission, board, department or office to which are granted similar powers and jurisdiction, such powers and jurisdiction shall thereafter be exercised by the commission, board, department or office upon which are imposed like powers, function, and duties.
Any commission, board or office abolished by the adoption of this Charter, whether elective or appointive, shall continue to perform its duties until provision has been made for the discontinuance of such commission, board or office and the performance of its duties by a successor as provided by this Charter. The Town Clerk shall notify the members of any abolished commission, board or office that their successors have qualified and that such commission, board or office is abolished.
All records, property and equipment whatsoever of any commission, board or office or part thereof, all of the powers and duties of which are assigned to any other commission, board or office by this Charter, shall be transferred and delivered without delay to the commission, board or office to which such power and duties are assigned. If part of the powers and duties of any commission, board or offices are by this Charter assigned to another commission, board or office, all records, property and equipment relating exclusively thereto shall be transferred and delivered intact without delay to the commission, board or office to which such powers and duties are assigned.
All employees of the Town on the effective date of this Charter whose positions are not abolished by the adoption of this Charter shall retain their respective positions. Any provision of law in force at the time this Charter is adopted in relation to personnel, appointment, ranks, grades of pay, tenure of office, promotions, removals, pension and retirement benefits or privileges of employment of the Town or any office or agency thereof, shall continue in effect, until or unless amended or repealed in accordance with provisions of this Charter.
Any person holding an administrative office or classified position as defined in this Charter on its effective date, shall be retained without preliminary or performance test but shall otherwise be subject to all provisions of this Charter.
No action or proceeding, civil or criminal, pending on the effective date of this Charter brought by or against the Town or any board, agency, commission or office thereof, shall be affected or abated by the adoption of this Charter, or by anything contained herein.
All such actions or proceedings may be continued even though the functions, powers and duties of any such board which may have been a party to any action may be assigned or transferred to another board by this Charter.
The Town Council shall enact an Ethics Ordinance which, among other things, shall define and regulate conflict of interest on the part of any elected or appointed officer of the Town, member of any Town of Windham Board or any Town employee, and be implemented and administered by the Ethics Commission required by Chapter VII-9 of this Charter.
The Town Clerk and Treasurer, Collector of Revenue and such other official and employees as may be required to do so by the of Town Council shall, before entering on their respective official duties, execute to the Town in the form prescribed by the Town Attorney and filed with the Town Clerk a surety company bond in a penal sum to be fixed by the Town Council conditioned upon honesty and/or faithful performance of their official duties.
The Town Council, if it deems it to be in the best interest of the Town, may prescribe a name schedule bond, schedule position bond or blanket bond and may prescribe which departments, offices, agencies, boards or commissions shall be covered by a specific type of the aforementioned bonds. Premiums for such bonds shall be paid by the Town.
All general laws of the State of Connecticut applicable to the Town of Windham shall remain in full force and effect, except insofar as they are inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter. All ordinances and bylaws of the Town in force on the effective date of this Charter shall continue in full force and effect, except insofar as they are inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter, or until amended or repealed by the Town Council.
All special acts of the State of Connecticut relating to the Town of Windham which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter are retained.
It is the policy of the Town of Windham that the power of eminent domain shall only be used to take property for municipal improvements or other public works and that it shall not be used for projects undertaken for purposes of economic development.
If any part of this Charter shall be held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such holding shall not affect the remainder of this Charter nor the context in which said section or part thereof so held invalid may appear, except to the extent that an entire section or part of a section may be inseparable and effect with the section or part of the section to which such ruling shall directly apply.
When the context so requires, the singular shall include the plural and the plural the singular.
This Charter may be amended in the manner prescribed by the HOME RULE ACT, specifically sections 7-187 to 7-194 of the General Statutes, as amended.
A mandatory review of the Charter shall be undertaken at five-year intervals by the Town Council, which, if it deems further revisions appropriate, shall appoint a Charter Revision Commission in accordance with the provisions of the Home Rule Act. The five-year period shall be calculated from the date of submission of the prior Commission's final report to the Town Clerk.
This Charter shall become effective upon the first day of July following approval of a majority of the electors voting thereon at a regular election to be held on November 3, 2020, or otherwise in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 99 of the General Statutes, as amended. If approved as set forth above on November 3, 2020, all Town election requirements revised in Article IV-3 ("Elective Officials") of this Charter plus applicable changes in all Articles interconnected to Article IV-3, including Articles III-3 ("Minority Party Representation"), III-4 ("Eligibility"), V-2 ("The Mayor"), and V-11 ("Reapportionment"), as revised, shall be fully effective and implemented no later than the biennial Town election of November 7, 2023. Any activity required to be accomplished before July 1, 2021 by the official November 2, 2021 Election Calendar published by the Office of the Secretary of the State to prepare for the biennial Town election of November 2, 2021 shall be done even if it is calendared to occur before the basic July 1, 2021 effective date of this Charter.