By John Schwing
WESTPORT — In a meeting that lasted under 10 minutes, District 6 members of the Representative Town Meeting convened Monday afternoon to learn what the Town Charter pre-ordained — they have no say in selecting the person chosen to fill an open seat in their district.
Town Clerk Jeffrey Dunkerton presided at the Zoom meeting, which under a charter rule, was called as a formality for three incumbent District 6 members to discuss the appointment of Alma Sarelli to fill a vacancy in the district’s fourth seat. The seat was open following the recent resignation of Jessica Bram.
No vote was taken on Sarelli’s appointment when Dunkerton, responding to questions, made it clear that charter provision § C5-8 on filling open RTM seats would render null any votes by the three other district representatives.
Although the three District 6 members appeared to be unfamiliar with the charter provision, RTM Moderator Jeff Wieser later told Monday night’s meeting of the legislative body that he thinks three current members have been appointed to their seats in similar fashion.
Each of the RTM’s nine districts has four members.
Under the relevant charter provision, when an RTM member resigns, if the number of votes cast for the candidate with the fifth-highest vote total is at least 45 percent of the district’s top vote-getter, then that candidate is automatically qualified to take the open seat for the remainder of the term.
In the 2023 municipal election, Candace Banks tallied 522 votes, the most among the seven contenders for the four District 6 seats. Sarelli finished fifth with 268 votes, the highest total among the three candidates who failed to win election — or approximately 51 percent of the votes for Banks.
When District 6 member Seth Braunstein asked Dunkerton if there was any point in voting on Sarelli’s appointment, since the charter appeared to make it “a fait accompli,” the town clerk replied the incumbents’ vote would make no difference.
The charter provision, which often does not come into play, dictates the outcome.
As a result, the three District 6 members took no vote on whether to endorse Sarelli’s appointment.
Dunkerton noted that in many past instances when RTM vacancies occurred, none of the losing candidates achieved the 45 percent threshold of the district’s top vote-getter or no more than four candidates had initially sought election in the district.
So the charter provision did not apply in those cases.
The practice of filling prior RTM vacancies more commonly unfolds when the district’s remaining three members invite voters interested in being appointed to the open seat to submit their qualifications. The applicants then are interviewed and a final selection made by the three district incumbents.
Sarelli, who appeared to have logged in for Monday’s Zoom meeting, made no comments during the brief session.
In addition to seeking election to the RTM last November, she ran in 2022 as the Republican candidate for the state House of Representatives against Jonathan Steinberg in the 136th District, and the year before that, was a write-in candidate for the Board of Education.
During a brief interview Saturday, however, Sarelli said she is “excited” for the opportunity to become an RTM member.
John Schwing, the Westport Journal consulting editor, has held senior editorial and writing posts at southwestern Connecticut media outlets for four decades. Learn more about us here.
Wow, the Tooker administration just continuing with the illegal acts.
Alma Sarelli cannot be sworn in prior to the District 6 voting to give her the seat at a bare minimum.
Furthermore, the Town Charter gives the RTM the authority to “be the judge of the election and qualification of its members.”
The RTM as a whole gets to vote if she is qualified and elected to the RTM.
If the representatives of District 6 did not vote to place her in the seat, then she is not seated.
If the RTM judges her to be not qualified to be seated, then she is not seated.
There is no “fait accompli.”
There is a process that is to be followed, and just like everything else in this administration they follow none of it, and continue to lie, deceive, and obfuscate to the people of the town and, as they did in the P&Z meeting about Parker Harding and in this District 6 meeting, other elected officials.
This comment is a little harsh.
There is nothing illegal or untoward here.
Ms. Sarelli, as a result of the last democratic election, is clearly entitled to her seat under the Town Charter and she got it.
We now have three strong members of the RTM who gained their seats in this manner and the RTM never considered any other means of determining the succession.
Indeed, if a District 2 RTM member were to resign in the current term, Mr Falk would be, as a result of the last democratic election, entitled to the seat and we would welcome him back to the RTM.
No this comment is perfectly accurate and sees the charter… but keep on lying ! Weiser !
Why would the lies not continue !
It’s expected.
Mr. Falk is not talking about himself !
You decided to bring him into a scenario where he might be Sarelli, but he is NOT !
He very clearly knows the charter which you DO NOT ! Nor does Mr. Dunkerton.
She needs to still go through the vote of her districts rtm.
Every other of the 3 situations you conveniently cite as you have become accustomed to doing with a god complex, had the 3 rtm sitting candidates “vote” yes Jeff “vote”, yes…
This time because it’s a candidate you so desperately want for tonight’s vote that you do not give a fiddlers… you and braunstein did the EXACT thing you did at the field trip with ratkiewich !
Nobody’s stupid here !
Sarelli clearly cannot legally vote tonight !
I’m just stating that as FACT !
Dump Dee dum dum de do !
I guess Weiser will call his “rules committee”