With two weeks to go before election day, Republican Candidate and current State Representative Kurt Vail put out a video addressing questions and issues that have popped up over the course of the 2023 campaign for Stafford’s First Selectman race.
The video starts by addressing the elephant in the room, which is that if elected as Stafford's First Selectman, Vail would simultaneously hold two paid elected positions. “I’ve always had a full-time job while serving as State Representative…” he said in the video. “If I have the great pleasure of becoming First Selectman, I’ll be able to use those relationships I’ve built and the experience I’ve gained in working with other town officials throughout this area to try to find efficiencies in local government.”
As we reported earlier this year, “The Stafford First Selectman position comes with a salary of roughly $80,000 per year. State Representatives are given a base salary, which was raised from $28,000 to $44,000 in 2022. When lawmakers voted to increase this salary, NBC Connecticut reported, ‘Rep. Doug Dubitsky, R-Chaplin, argued during the debate that the current low pay and long hours associated with working at the Capitol has made it impossible for most people to become a lawmaker.’”
Next, Vail moved on to allude to a Facebook controversy that popped up in response to Bill Morrison’s Q&A with The Stafford Free Press. “We’ve heard some chatter about maybe trying to pass a town budget through town meeting,” said Vail. “Normally, town meetings are attended by a hundred people or less. I think we should continue with the process of doing it through a budget referendum because it gives more people the opportunity to vote. We can have meetings to discuss the budget, as we already do, but then we send that to a budget referendum so we can get as many people as possible to hear their voice.”
Morrison, the Democratic candidate for Stafford’s First Selectman, said in his Q&A: “I will send out via Facebook and Everbridge (if possible) information about selectmen's meetings, the budget status, and important information about the budget in an effort to pass a budget by a town meeting that is well thought out and supported by the taxpayers on the first attempt, thus saving approximately $4,000.00 per referendum. I believe the earlier we start working on the budget, the more informed the taxpayers will be. I will be entering the office during the second quarter of an already underfunded town budget, so information sharing and citizen input are imperative.”
A post in a local Facebook group interpreted this to mean Morrison wanted to vote on and pass the budget at a town meeting. (People who are not in the "What's Going on in and around Stafford Springs" group may trouble with the link. So we've included screenshots below.) Morrison clarified in the post’s comments that he meant he wanted to use town meetings to ensure that by the time the budget goes to referendum, it has enough support to pass on the first try. Despite the clarifications, the talking point has continued.
For those of you who did not closely follow the last budget process, it went to referendum three times before passing, at the cost of $4,000 or more per referendum. Stafford passed the $45.4 million budget on the third try by a vote of 639-542. Stafford has over 7,500 registered voters — 1,181 voted in the last budget referendum. For reference, about 1,545 people voted in the first referendum, and 1,705 voted in the second referendum.
State statutes dictate how town budgets are passed
I checked in with Town Clerk Karen Troiano to learn more about the budget process regarding voting. Troiano told me that the Connecticut General Assembly Statutes (CGS) — which define the regulations, eligibility for voting, and conduct for town meetings and referendums — say that action on an annual budget may be taken at a town meeting or at a referendum. A referendum under CGS can be called for by action of the Board of Selectman or upon petition of 200 or more qualified persons.
Furthermore, at a town meeting the voting body can vote to “reduce or reject” the budget — so most selectmen wouldn’t choose to vote at a town meeting, where the voting body actually has more control. The last time Stafford approved a budget at a town meeting was for fiscal year 2003-2004 when there was no mil rate increase. Even more interesting was the fiscal year 2016-2017, when the BOS initially called for the budget vote at a town meeting but a referendum was scheduled upon receipt of a petition.
Ultimately, no BOS or First Selectman has the power to pass a budget at a town meeting unless the people of Stafford consent, so the candidates' opinions on the matter are inconsequential.
[Editor's note: We originally had a hard time finding the Facebook post in question, and thought it may have been deleted, though we could not be sure. So, when this article was originally published we made that clear and asked anyone who could find it to send it in, and also checked with admins from the groups. The post was eventually found and restored, so this article has been edited from the original to include the added context of the post (including a shameless plug from Stafford Free Press in the comments). We've also linked to the full post above so curious readers can have added context.]