Residents urge Danbury council to slow charter revision after large public turnout

The Danbury City Council heard public pleas to slow work on proposed charter changes during a special meeting on July 23, 2026. Michelle Coelho, who identified herself as a resident of 47 East Lake Road and chair of the Danbury Republican Town Committee, told the council, "I'm asking you to slow this process down," and said "33 members of the public came out and speak against this."

Lewis Marks, another resident who gave his address, echoed concerns about notice and accountability, calling the process "politicized" and proposing a civilian review board for allegations of official misconduct. Marks told the council he had "taken a course at WestConn" on moral development and said repeated procedural problems had "offended" his sense of morality.

The public-comment block lasted the meeting's allotted 30 minutes. Commenters pressed that the public had only about 24 hours to review roughly 25 pages of edits that had been produced after multi-night committee sessions, and they asked the council to allow more time for stakeholders to digest the changes before forwarding recommendations. The council preserved the record of those comments and later voted to transmit its recommendations to the Charter Revision Commission for further review.