By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — Nearly six months after controversy erupted over the legal standing of TEAM Westport’s membership, officials continue working to select new members of the panel that promotes issues of multiculturalism and diversity.

The issue over TEAM’s members was sparked in late January after two residents threatened to file a lawsuit over the committee’s composition, which they claimed violated several provisions of the town charter. 

Subsequently, membership of four other advisory town committees was called into question. They include the Arts Advisory, Wakeman Town Farm, International Hospitality and Maintenance Study committees.

Candidates for appointment to seats on TEAM Westport are still being evaluated, First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker, Selectwoman Andrea Moore and Harold Bailey Jr., chairman of TEAM Westport all said last week.

Vetting of potential appointees began after an April 15 deadline set by Tooker for any local voters to file letters indicating their interest in serving on the five committees.

The legal threat that triggered review of committee membership came in January from two residents — Zack Alcyone and Camilo Riano — specifically challenging TEAM Westport’s composition. The men contended the committee was meeting illegally because too many registered Democrats held seats on the panel, violating rules for minority-political party representation, and that the group also permitted non-residents to be members and that others had served longer than allowed under charter rules.

Tooker, acting in February in response to the threat, determined that TEAM Westport and four other town committees must conform with most rules set for the town’s elected boards and commissions, and issued a call for new applicants in March.

The first selectwoman received about 40 applications, she said at last week’s TEAM meeting. About 10 applicants specifically requested to be considered for a seat on TEAM, and their applications were forwarded to Moore for interviews, Tooker reported.

On Friday, Moore said in an e-mail that she has met with several candidates over the past few months.

“We have already appointed two people to the Maintenance Study Committee, one to Wakeman Town Farm and several others to other committees and boards,” she said of the other panels whose composition was faulted.

“Adding members to selectwomen-appointed committees and boards will be an ongoing process as we find the right candidates to fill these roles,” Moore wrote.

“That applied to all these committees, not just TEAM.”

The next step for potential TEAM appointees will be to speak with Bailey, as chairman of the committee, and then to be formally appointed by Tooker.

Bailey said he plans to speak by phone this week with the candidates who Moore has forwarded. 

He expects six or seven new appointees to TEAM, he said. The membership total before the complaint was filed was 14, and those who did not meet town charter requirements are no longer serving on the board, he said.

Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist and journalism teacher for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman newspaper for 10 years and currently teaches journalism at Southern Connecticut State University.