By John Schwing

WESTPORT — Reiterating support for TEAM Westport and its mission, First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker told the multicultural-advocacy committee Thursday that plans are moving forward to restructure the group and four other town committees.

Tooker joined TEAM Westport’s Zoom meeting to expound on her Feb. 15 letter outlining the impending committee changes, which came in response to threatened legal action by two residents who contend the group, as constituted, violates the town charter.

Vincent Marino, a lawyer representing residents Zack Alcyone and Camilo Riano, who filed the complaint, on Jan. 31 wrote to Tooker, saying the charter violations fall in three general areas: a lack of minority-political party representation, non-residents are committee members and some members have served longer than allowed than the charter’s term limits.

Changes allow TEAM to “move on”

Tooker, after consulting with Town Attorney Ira Bloom, decided that town committees such as TEAM Westport — which is advisory and has no binding authority — should conform to most rules that apply to elected municipal boards and commissions.

Specifically, the committees’ members now must be Westport residents registered to vote and that no more than 50 percent of a committee’s membership can belong to the same political party.

Although Bloom, in his legal opinion, told Tooker that TEAM Westport does not violate any town charter provisions, it does not conform to the state’s minority-party representation statutes. Those rules would allow up to two-thirds of the group’s members to belong to the same political party.

But Tooker said she decided to set the political party threshold at 50 percent so the policy is “above reproach” and “allows us to move on.”

In response to a question from TEAM Westport Chairman Harold Bailey, Tooker said there is no specific timeframe to make the changes. 

However, the first selectwoman hopes to shortly issue a public invitation seeking citizens who might be interested in serving on TEAM and the four other committees.

Potential applicants will be asked to submit resumes and letters that detail relevant experience and interests. By mid-April, Tooker hopes interviews to judge applicants’ suitability can be conducted by Selectwoman Andrea Moore before final appointees are selected.

Even though TEAM Westport will be restructured under the new policies, Tooker said she remains committed to the group’s mission of promoting “inclusion, multiculturalism and diversity.”

Vetting the “intentions” of potential appointees

Danielle Dobin, chairwoman of the Planning and Zoning Commission, said she is concerned about the “transparency” of the appointment process, saying the legal challenge was initiated by a “vocal minority” whose real goal is to “subvert” TEAM Westport’s existence.

Tooker responded that she “is used to sorting out the intentions” of applicants to town committees. “It’s in nobody’s interest,” she added, “if we seek to appoint people who are not committed to the mission of that committee.”

Judith Hamer, a longtime TEAM member and former Westport resident active in local multicultural issues, said she feels the changes made in response to the threatened lawsuit, in the end, allowed the complainants to achieve their goals.

“Shrinking the diversity” of a diverse committee, she said, and opening applications to a pool of residents that demographically is not diverse, would limit participation by minorities.

Tooker said she did not agree that it is “exclusionary” to consider potential committee members from the entire community.

However, both Dobin and Bailey observed it will be challenging to ensure TEAM Westport’s diversity under the restructuring plan since only about 1 percent of Westport’s population is Black and about 2 percent is Asian American.