Enfield Prepares for a Second Attempt at Charter Reform
Enfield voters sent a clear message in November: they did not want automatic budget referendums. Now, with Democrats newly in control of the Town Council, the town is preparing to try charter reform again. The council will consider creating a new Charter Revision Commission at its meeting Monday. Collateral Damage: Bipartisan Reforms Lost in the Defeat While the budget referendum dominated the debate, several other reforms were swept away when voters rejected the entire package. Voters couldn’t “slice and dice” the proposal — there was only one up-or-down question on the ballot. What Happened in November The defeat centered largely on one controversial provision : an automatic referendum requirement whenever the town budget increased by more than 5% over the previous year’s general fund expenditures. This “trigger” would have taken budget approval out of the Council’s hands and sent it directly to voters whenever a spending proposal crossed that threshold. The charter revision question...
