An illustration demonstrating colonists debating issues at an early New England Town Meeting. Credit to Panarizon Publishing Corp Story of America Card Series
Currently, it is March, and we are in an off-year election cycle. In Connecticut, there are not many elections that are not in November. We aren’t Wisconsin, we don’t have an important state supreme court election in April. In this quieter part of the election calendar, before campaigns start ramping up for local elections in November, it is a great time to go through different forms of town government throughout the state.
In this three-part article series, I will explore various forms of town government, including representative town meetings versus open town meetings, mayor-council versus council-manager systems, and the intricacies of select boards.
Types of Town Meeting Systems
In our first part, we will start with the Town Meeting system. There are a few different forms of this system
In larger towns that have this system, it is called a representative town meeting (RTM), where voters select members to participate in a town meeting. This is similar to a town council, but in some towns, there are far more members than in an average town council system.
In the purest form, a town meeting allows any registered voter in that town to vote on town affairs. This direct democracy system allows anyone to participate in the open system. An agenda is usually published before the meeting, listing items up for discussion. Only listed items are discussed unless voted upon based on a majority of attendees, though the rules for debate and placing items on the agenda depend on the individual town. Some towns have a financial town meeting, where registered voters have jurisdiction only on the annual town budget.
In most towns with this form of government, a formally elected select board takes control of other legislative duties.
History of the Town Meeting
The Town meeting is a style of government that originated from British colonists in the 17th century. New England’s Puritan settlements met in colonial meeting houses, allowing a place to discuss local and church affairs. The exact nature of these meetings is not well-known due to sparse record keeping, but one can imagine the people of a town showing up to discuss issues. In small settlements, it was simple enough.
The church and local governance were closely connected as settlers in colonial New England came here for religious freedom. In addition, towns had a large amount of autonomy as their home country’s monarch was an entire ocean away. 1600s transportation meant that a royal letter would take months, so colonies self-governed with the freedom to decide for themselves leading to the town meeting.
This isn’t to say the system was always fair. Towns had to reach unanimity somehow. This system allowed people to speak their minds to reach a common consensus. There weren’t always formally elected officials, and speaking up against the majority was viewed as socially unacceptable. It was more about keeping the peace than democratic ideals.
Adult men who owned a certain amount of property were allowed to participate in town meetings. But most adult men did not meet that requirement. Women and children under the age of 21 couldn’t vote. Qualifications varied greatly from town to town and were difficult to track. Some adult men who lived with their fathers were barred from voting in the 1700s. The progress over the centuries is evident through centuries of changes and town charters and the greater inclusion of all residents in towns.
The 230 Representative Town Meeting (RTM) Members of Greenwich
A town meeting system isn’t practical in large towns. The solution is to elect representatives akin to a town council. In some cases, much larger than a town council.
Greenwich, with a population of 63,518 as of the 2020 census, elects a staggering 230 elected representatives as a part of the RTM.
In Greenwich, the Board of Selectmen is a three-member committee. They are akin to an executive branch. They oversee daily operations, public safety and work, and town administration. This also includes town policies, appointments to committees, and administrative duties. They are elected at large by the entire town. The First Selectman is the equivalent of a mayor in other towns.
The RTM is in charge of town budgets and approves major decisions in the town, similar to a legislative branch. They are not paid and meet for eight meetings a year. The RTM in Greenwich is composed of 12 districts with between 11 to 26 members of each district.
In 2023, a whopping 345 candidates ran for 230 positions. This was historically more than in previous years. It is difficult to find many candidates for a position, as these elections are usually non-competitive as less people petition for the office than there are seats. The nature of these races also changed. A non-partisan elected position, this election involved multiple members running on slates to elect like-minded members to the RTM. Some candidates ran as a bipartisan slate in an attempt to as they describe an “extremist push” to take over the RTM. These bipartisan like-minded candidates kept voters informed through their website known as Sensible Greenwich.
During the 2023 election, there was a 50.82% turnout which is high for an off-year election. Some suggested it was due to residents being more engaged in local issues in Greenwich.
Representative Town Meetings in Other Towns
In addition to Greenwich, 6 other towns in the state have RTM governments. This includes Branford, Darien, Fairfield, Groton, Waterford, and Westport. The RTM is much smaller than Greenwich which has the largest RTM in the state. Branford has 30 members in 7 districts. Darien has 100 members in six districts. Fairfield has 40 members in 10 districts. Groton has 45 members in 7 districts. Waterford has 26 members in 4 districts. Westport has 36 members in 9 districts.
Similar to Greenwich, all of these towns have a select board (or Board of Selectman) that acts as an executive branch. Darien and Westport also elect their RTM as a non-partisan position. However, Branford, Fairfield, Groton, and Waterford are partisan positions with party identification appearing on ballots.
Town Meetings are Common in CT
Town Meeting is interestingly the most common form of government in the state of Connecticut. More than half of the state’s 169 municipalities still use this system. A town meeting has a select board which acts as the executive board handling the day-to-day operations.
Town Meetings in the Modern Era
A system built for small communities four centuries ago derived from English villages and Puritan church assemblies has struggled to adapt to the modern era, especially in smaller towns. Not too surprising.
The truth is though an interesting and unique system, it poses unique disadvantages. All towns that have a town meeting system have a population of less than 30,000 residents. The largest town with this form of government is Newtown (with a population of 27,173 as of the 2020 Census).
Some towns have opted to change this form of government, changing to professional town managers (council-managers), and town administrators, and giving more power to the board of selectmen. In the past decade, towns such as Simsbury, Clinton, and Cromwell have used town managers. Malborough increased the size of their board of selectmen from three to five, along with the addition of a town manager.
Another town, Chester has debated to change their form of government. Issues include high turnover and the fact that the first selectman does not have direct control over elected officials or boards. This leads to lack of accountability with less executive power.
In some smaller towns, there can be a lot of work with low pay, not attracting enough candidates. In addition, turnout for open town meetings tends to be very low with only the most vocal and passionate supporters turning out. Chester for example, between 2011 and 2021, only 127 votes for the regional school budget were cast out of more than 2500 eligible voters, leading to only a 5% participation rate.
The government has also grown more complex with more responsibilities for the individuals in charge of the town.
I will further explain the complexity of how select boards work with town meetings in Part 3. Part 2 will be published soon.
Thanks for reading!