GREENWICH — Because the Consultant City Assembly gathered Monday evening to contemplate a full agenda of things, most of the members little doubt felt safe about their reelection probabilities.
Subsequent week, voters will forged ballots for a lot of municipal workplace on the town, together with the two-year phrases on the RTM. However there’s not a lot competitors within the races for its 230 seats.
As of Monday, solely 5 of the RTM’s 12 districts had extra candidates operating than seats. Within the different seven districts, the entire candidates on the poll will likely be elected. And in some districts, there are extra seats than candidates.
However this isn’t a motive for concern, RTM Moderator Tom Byrne mentioned. The truth is, Byrne mentioned it’s typical for an RTM election in Greenwich. The 230-member physique is “a totally completely different form of legislative establishment than individuals are accustomed to immediately,” he mentioned.
“Its giant dimension is designed to present any resident who’s prepared to attend our conferences an precise vote on the necessary choices which are to be made regionally,” Byrne mentioned. :The RTM opens its arms to such people and says, ‘Come be part of us. We are going to allow you to vote all through the two-year time period on how a lot cash the city will spend and what the exact language of its ordinances shall be.’”
The one aggressive elections to this point are in District 5, the place there are 19 candidates for 18 seats; in District 8, with 27 candidates for 23 seats; District 10 with 23 candidates for 20 seats; and District 12 with 24 candidates for 22 seats.
Of the 12 districts, Districts 1, 4 and 9 have fewer candidates on the poll than they do seats on the RTM.
The RTM is a nonpartisan legislative physique the place occasion affiliation doesn’t matter. To serve on the RTM, a candidate have to be a resident within the district the place they’re searching for election. Additionally, candidates have to be registered voters, however they will belong to any occasion or be unaffiliated.
For Byrne, its set-up is among the causes the RTM capabilities in addition to it does. And he mentioned a conventional election wouldn’t work.
“The aim of the November election is to have a mechanism to resolve who will get the privilege of exercising these votes when the variety of people exceeds the house out there,” Byrne mentioned. “The RTM ‘election’ was by no means designed to perform like a partisan election pitting one Democrat towards one Republican. In such elections, there may be one loser for each winner.”
He added, “Making use of that evaluation to our mannequin misunderstands the outdated New England type of authorities, the city assembly. By adopting the consultant city assembly mannequin, the city by no means meant to have contested elections for every of the 230 positions.”
Byrne mentioned he’s proud that so many residents are prepared to serve on the RTM. “We should always have a good time the turnout this 12 months and each election,” he mentioned.
Write-in candidates for the RTM can nonetheless get entry to the poll. In accordance with City Clerk Carmella Budkins, potential candidates can file paperwork with the workplace till 4 p.m. Nov. 1, which is the shut of enterprise on the day earlier than the election.
A kind is posted at www.greenwichct.gov/721/Consultant-City-Assembly-RTM, which a write-in candidate can print out, signal and switch in to the city clerk.
There are write-in candidates signed up in Districts 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9 and 10.
Vacancies usually happen all through a two-year time period on the RTM. The openings will be stuffed by an eligible resident who steps ahead. If there may be a couple of candidate, the remainder of the district’s RTM members will vote.
Byrne mentioned he’s assured that the entire 230 seats will likely be stuffed by the point the brand new time period begins in January.
“Previous historical past is evident that there’s substantial curiosity locally to hitch the RTM,” he mentioned. “Persons are typically hesitant to place their identify on the poll for a number of causes, showing to be publicly labeled a ‘loser’ within the election, for instance. Once they be taught there are vacancies to be stuffed at a district assembly, they then present up in numbers larger than the out there spots.”
