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On Monday, Town Clerk Darlene DiProto was presented with petitions circulated by residents who want the budget to be voted on in a town-wide referendum rather than at a town meeting.
DiProto certified 313 names, far in excess of the 200 signatures needed to take the issue to referendum.
Officials, led by Acting First Selectman Richard R. Newton, had hoped to resolve the issue at the town meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. this evening at the Cromwell Middle School.
But Mark Corvo, who helped head the petition drive, said it is both fairer and more democratic to take the issue to referendum.
Officials have not yet acted to formally set the date, but DiProto said she anticipates it will be held sometime next week.
Even though the first referendum last week attracted an abysmal turnout of only 9.3 percent of eligible voters, Corvo was unmoved.
"You have a more democratic process when there are 800-900 people voting as opposed to the 50-60 you get at a town meeting," he said.
Plus, Corvo said, the selectmen were being inconsistent by not automatically sending it to referendum as they did with the first budget. Having sent it a referendum the first time, Corvo said, "It’s almost an aberration to go the other way now."
Newton had said with such a paltry turnout and with a referendum costing an estimated $1,750, he would rather have seen the issue dealt with at the town meeting. But, Newton was quick to add, he would willingly abide by whatever decision residents made.
Corvo dismissed the money issue, calling $1,750 "a pittance."
"What did we get the first time? A reduction of $146,000? I’d call that a pretty decent return on our investment. If the town operated like that all the time, we’d be in pretty good shape," he said.
Beyond that, Corvo said, "It’s our right to vote on the money the town expects to pull out of our pockets."
What’s more, he said, by taking the issue to a referendum instead of resolving it at town meeting, "people have more time to vote, and maybe a little bit of time to think about what they’re voting on."
Corvo said he was not for or against the budget, but rather favored "a more open, democratic process."
He picked up the petitions Thursday, and said, "It was a tough pull, a rough two or three days work."
"But, we had plenty of people, and we had support for the petitions," support Corvo said "was fairly even" and came from "both side of the budget battle. There was not much negativity."
Several of the selectmen attended last week’s post-referendum meeting during which the Board of Finance reduced the budget by $146,000, and thus reduced the proposed tax increase to 2.75 mills.
After the finance board acted, Newton had informally polled his colleagues who were present; the consensus was to take the issue to town meeting, Newton said later.
"That decision really ignited people," Corvo said Monday. "Going from a referendum (on the first budget) to a town meeting, the perception as that wasn’t the right thing to do," he said.
He said some critics have complained the selectmen had met illegally, adding they apparently intend to pursue a Freedom of Information complaint. But, Corvo said, that is not his issue.
"As far as the petitions, hopefully, we won’t have to do this again," he said. "Hopefully, it will be a head’s up for them (the selectmen)."
"They dropped the ball and we picked it up. Now, it’s in their court again."
To contact Jeff Mill call (860) 347-3331 ext. 221 or e-mail jmill@middletown press.com.
