Community Corner
A Power Grab Threat to New Canaan's Autonomy
Are we headed toward a return to county government?
A Government “Power Grab” hurts job growth, the economy and stocks. There is an effort to convert the South Western Regional Planning Agency (SWRPA) to a Council of Governments (COG).
SWRPA was organized to coordinate regional cooperation on inter-municipal issues of transportation, housing, community development, environment and open space and has no binding votes.
The effort, supported by , would create a COG with “binding votes” on its eight members. Governor Dannel Malloy has instructed his appointed Office of Policy and Management to approach elected officials in Fairfield County to vote in favor of the COG so that approval could be completed before the fall elections that could see changes among the SWRPA CEO’s.
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The creation of a COG is the first step towards a return to county government empowered to control New Canaan’s municipal finances and allocate our tax dollars to regional COG programs benefiting the larger towns such as Norwalk and Stamford. There is movement to include Bridgeport in the Southwestern Connecticut Regional COG. The COG would be empowered to propose regional taxes such as a county property tax or sales tax to fund its programs. It is a simple theorem that any such increase in taxes would further hurt the “soft” real estate prices and retail businesses in New Canaan.
Connecticut General Statue 4.124 prohibits the First Selectman’s office from binding New Canaan into a COG without approval by a legislative committee. Since New Canaan does not have a “Representative Town Meeting” (RTM) the approval would rest with the Town Council. To the best of my knowledge neither the nor the First Selectman’s office have discussed this important issue with New Canaanites.
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It is my opinion that we need an open public forum on this issue. It is the right of the citizens of New Canaan to decide this critical issue, not municipal officials.
Based on the current facts and circumstances, that are available, I am against any participation by the Town of New Canaan in a “Regional COG”. In my opinion we should keep New Canaan’s fiscal policies, budget decisions and tax dollars under the auspices of New Canaanites not Hartford.
