OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Danbury City Council Meeting - August 4, 2026: Charter Revision Debate and Appointments

Meeting Portal — Tuesday, August 4, 2026
BodyDanbury, Connecticut
SessionMeeting Portal
DateTuesday, August 4, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:42:03
Transcript — Verbatim
0:01

Hello everybody.

0:04

I'm calling the August 4th meeting to order at 7.01 p.m.

0:08

I missed it.

0:09

I'm sorry, folks.

0:10

7.01 p.m.

0:12

I'd like us all to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

0:15

And I ask our friend Sean to please lead us in the pledge.

0:28

To the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands.

0:34

One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

0:40

If we can remain standing, I'm gonna ask Councilman Billy McAllister to lead us in prayer tonight.

0:45

Thank you, Smith.

0:48

I'd like to take a couple minutes to have everybody remember that this past month was the month in which we remember all of the older members of our community that have stepped forward to raise younger members of their family, other younger members of the community, and just the country as a whole, in making sure that they enjoy the gift of what normally would be considered a solid family.

1:13

With that being said, we we know that that keeping them in mind makes our own community that much better because of the actions of these people.

1:22

We do so in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit amen.

1:26

Thank you.

1:27

Amen.

1:28

Thank you, Councilman.

1:29

Madam Legislative Assistant, will you call the roll, please?

1:36

Coallo?

1:37

Here, Flanagan.

1:39

Here, Paulie, President, Le Pine, Salvatore, Fuseid, President, Gardner, President, Faye, Henry, Wallace Smith, Spain Reichel, Giordano, Jabor, Rotello, Rotello.

2:05

Okay.

2:05

Chianese.

2:07

Dwayne Perkins.

2:09

Britton.

2:09

Present.

2:10

McAllister.

2:11

Present.

2:12

Robinson.

2:13

Laughing House.

2:14

Here.

2:15

And Dennis Perkins is absent.

2:17

20 present, one absent.

2:20

Thank you.

2:21

I'd like to.

2:22

We have a calendar of events that is posted.

2:24

And well, I'd like to just draw your attention to some life events before we we get started and read those off.

2:30

We'd like to say happy birthday to Councilman Dennis Perkins on August 9th.

2:34

Dennis cannot be here tonight.

2:36

He does have a loss in the family that they are still mourning.

2:38

Um, so our thoughts and our prayers are with Councilman Dennis Perkins.

2:43

We also have Councilman Dwayne Perkins, August 21st.

2:46

Dwayne, happy birthday, councilman.

2:53

We also have Councilman Ben Chianese, August 28th.

2:57

Councilman, happy birthday, sir.

3:04

All right.

3:05

So we have August 7th.

3:07

We have musics at Richter, uh production of Mary Poppins to purchase tickets.

3:11

You can go to musicals at Richter.org.

3:14

It's musicals AT, not the at symbol at Richter.org.

3:17

Uh this is from 8 p.m.

3:19

to 11 p.m.

3:20

on the 7th, I believe the 8th, and then one more day, but go to their website, you can see the other dates as well.

3:27

Uh summer concert series on the green, 7 p.m.

3:30

every every Friday night as well, or August 7th.

3:33

Uh summer movie nights, recreation department at dusk, uh the Candlewood Town Park.

3:38

August 8th, Danbury's Farmers Market every morning, 9 a.m.

3:41

to 1 p.m.

3:41

through October 11th.

3:43

August 8th, the Ecuadorian Festival.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Charter Revision█████████████████████████████████████████████53%
Procedural█████████████████████25%
Personnel Matters████████10%
Public Safety████5%
Public Engagement███4%
Transportation Safety█1%
Engineering And Infrastructure█1%
Homelessness█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Danbury City Council Meeting - August 4, 2026

The Danbury City Council met on August 4, 2026, at 7:01 PM. The meeting included approval of minutes, a consent calendar, public comments, and extensive discussion and voting on the Charter Revision Commission final report. Several appointments and resolutions were also approved. The council ultimately voted to send the charter revision to the voters in November with two ballot questions.

Consent Calendar

  • Item 7: Received communication and accepted a $1,000 donation on behalf of the Danbury Police Department.
  • Item 8: Received communication and approved the resolution as presented.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Mary Keating Tahan thanked the Charter Revision Commission for its work and urged the council to approve the changes for the November ballot.
  • Irving Fox opposed four-year terms, arguing they reduce voter accountability and make it harder to remove ineffective officials.
  • Kathleen Troy supported the charter revision, stating that moving forward and allowing voters to decide is progress.
  • Jan Maria Jagish asked the council to send the proposed revisions to the voters for approval.
  • Steppy McCarry (commissioner) described the process as collaborative, bipartisan, and thoughtful, and asked the council to let voters decide.
  • Maria Stratner urged the council to allow the people to vote on the charter revision.
  • Elvis Nova (Zoning Commission member) expressed support for four-year terms, arguing that meaningful progress requires time, planning, and consistency.
  • Kate Canetta opposed the removal of staggered Board of Education (BOE) seats, citing concerns about continuity, expulsion hearing expertise, and inconsistency in voter turnout arguments.
  • Gary Simone praised the democratic process and encouraged the council to vote yes on the charter revision.
  • Barry Rickert supported the fire and police appointments and asked the council to send the charter revision to the voters.
  • Al Robinson criticized the charter revision process, alleging the mayor's office compromised its independence. He opposed four-year terms and urged the council to reject the proposal.
  • Jennifer Doran suggested breaking the charter revision into separate questions so voters can decide on individual issues.
  • Michelle Cowalo said the process was too rushed and asked for a slower, more deliberate approach.
  • Larry Reifberg supported sending the charter revision to the voters, noting the commission's extensive work and public input.
  • Robert Mulillo criticized the process for moving too quickly and questioned the legality of the commission's vote to send the report to the council.

Discussion Items

  • Charter Revision Commission Final Report & Ballot Language: The main motion was to adopt the final report and resolution as presented (Councilwoman Gardner). Extensive debate followed on amendments, including four-year terms, staggered BOE terms, standing committees, and bonding.
    • Councilwoman Faye moved to amend the resolution to replace four-year terms with two-year terms. After roll call, the motion failed (5 yes, 15 no).
    • Councilman Rotello moved to amend Question One in the resolution to include the unstaggered BOE terms (section 2.2 A C.1). The amendment passed by voice vote.
    • Councilwoman Jabor moved to split Question One into two separate questions (executive offices vs. others). The motion failed.
    • Councilwoman Faye moved to split the main motion into two separate votes (final report vs. ballot language). The motion failed.
    • Councilman Chianese moved to strike section 6-17 (BOE language) entirely. The motion failed.
    • Councilman Chianese moved to add a third ballot question on bonding (section 7-10). The motion failed on roll call (7 yes, 13 no).
    • Councilman Perkins moved to strike language on standing committees from the charter revision. The motion passed by voice vote.
  • Automated Traffic Enforcement Safety Devices (Item 10): The council moved to send the proposed ordinance to a public hearing.
  • Privacy Policy for Traffic Enforcement Devices (Item 11): The council voted to table this item until the next meeting.
  • Appointment to Danbury Museum & Historical Society (Item 12): Confirmed the appointment of Douglas Polistena.
  • Department Reports: Accepted as presented. Councilman McAllister commended the fire department for its response to a major fire in Germantown. Fire Chief Lowsbury provided details on the incident. Councilwoman Jabor inquired about the Franklin Street Bridge project; Public Works Director Antonio Iadarola reported progress. Councilman Chianese raised concerns about speeding on Sugar Hollow Road; Police Chief reported 235 tickets issued since May 1. Councilman Qualo asked about relief efforts for families displaced by the fire; the mayor's office is coordinating monetary donations. Finance Director Dan provided an update on the city audit, expecting completion by September.

Key Outcomes

  • Charter Revision: The council voted to adopt the final report and resolution as amended (14 yes, 6 no). The charter revision will appear on the November 3, 2026 ballot as two questions: (1) Shall the charter be amended to provide for four-year terms for all municipal elected offices and to remove staggered terms for the Board of Education? (2) Shall all other amendments as recommended by the Charter Revision Commission be adopted?
  • Appointments: The council confirmed Fire Lieutenant Michael Beers, Fire Lieutenant Thomas Chirico, Police Officers Stephen Abraham and Jennifer Naulaguari, OPEB Board member William McAllister, and Lake Kenosha Commission member Leslie Ballard.
  • Collective Bargaining Agreement (Item 6): The council sent the agreement to an ad hoc committee due to a procedural call.
  • Audit Committee: The council named the 2025 audit committee: Councilman Frank Salvatore (chair), Councilwoman Andrea Gartner, Councilman Joe Britton, Councilman Mike Henry, and Councilman Mike Coella.

Meeting Transcript

Hello everybody. I'm calling the August 4th meeting to order at 7.01 p.m. I missed it. I'm sorry, folks. 7.01 p.m. I'd like us all to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. And I ask our friend Sean to please lead us in the pledge. To the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. If we can remain standing, I'm gonna ask Councilman Billy McAllister to lead us in prayer tonight. Thank you, Smith. I'd like to take a couple minutes to have everybody remember that this past month was the month in which we remember all of the older members of our community that have stepped forward to raise younger members of their family, other younger members of the community, and just the country as a whole, in making sure that they enjoy the gift of what normally would be considered a solid family. With that being said, we we know that that keeping them in mind makes our own community that much better because of the actions of these people. We do so in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit amen. Thank you. Amen. Thank you, Councilman. Madam Legislative Assistant, will you call the roll, please? Coallo? Here, Flanagan. Here, Paulie, President, Le Pine, Salvatore, Fuseid, President, Gardner, President, Faye, Henry, Wallace Smith, Spain Reichel, Giordano, Jabor, Rotello, Rotello. Okay. Chianese. Dwayne Perkins. Britton. Present. McAllister. Present. Robinson. Laughing House. Here. And Dennis Perkins is absent. 20 present, one absent. Thank you. I'd like to. We have a calendar of events that is posted. And well, I'd like to just draw your attention to some life events before we we get started and read those off. We'd like to say happy birthday to Councilman Dennis Perkins on August 9th. Dennis cannot be here tonight. He does have a loss in the family that they are still mourning. Um, so our thoughts and our prayers are with Councilman Dennis Perkins. We also have Councilman Dwayne Perkins, August 21st. Dwayne, happy birthday, councilman. We also have Councilman Ben Chianese, August 28th. Councilman, happy birthday, sir. All right. So we have August 7th. We have musics at Richter, uh production of Mary Poppins to purchase tickets. You can go to musicals at Richter.org. It's musicals AT, not the at symbol at Richter.org.

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