Letter: Charter Vote Shouldn’t Be Partisan

To the Editor:

With “Vote Yes” and “Vote No” signs appearing around town, I thought it would be useful to provide a bit of background on how the Charter Review Commission was formed. This should give insight into why the “Yes” and “No” campaigns have turned what should have been a non-partisan initiative into a strongly partisan one.

The Board of Selectmen created the Commission on September 24, 2025 and a call for applications was issued, with applications available on the Town’s Boards & Commissions website. State statute requires the Commission to be seated within 30 days of creation, and the members of the Commission were appointed on October 22, 2025. I was one of the 5 appointed members, two of whom were registered Unaffiliated voters.

These dates are important, because on October 21st, the day before the appointments were voted on by the Board of Selectmen, the Weston CT Budget Dilemma administrator and Republican Town Committee (RTC) member posted the following:

“But because there is no reason to believe any conservative-leaning appointee wouldn’t be wasting time the next 8-9 months, cannot really blame the more politically aware Rs for not expressing more interest. For this reason, we had recommended at the RTC meeting that the R party respectfully decline making formal candidate recommendations.”

The post continues: “Given the electoral numbers locally, there is little an R on the Commission could do to influence the outcome that they can’t do on social media, perhaps with greater effect on the ultimate referendum.”

It is clear that, even before the Charter Review Commission had been appointed or commenced its work, the Republican Town Committee rejected both participation in the process and consideration of the Commission’s work. The strategy of focusing on social media, rather than active participation in the process, to influence the outcome of the referendum was clear from the outset.

I find it unfortunate that an effort to update the Town Charter has become a partisan issue. I urge all Weston citizens to consider seriously the proposed changes to the Charter.

—  David Muller

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