Westport has nine districts which send four candidates apiece to the RTM. Four of those districts will have contested elections, which means that more people in those districts are running for the job than can have it, so voters' input really counts.
Contested districts include Districts one, seven and eight, which have five candidates running for four spots and District four, which has six candidates running for four spots.
This year, three RTM members are retiring from service, including Lisa Rome, who has served in District seven, Peter Chelico in District one, and Joanne Davidson in District six. There are eight new candidates for the RTM, including George Underhill, the recently retired Westport tax collector.
The RTM has typically been responsible for final approvals of important town budgetary decisions, and pressure from that body helped to put downward pressure on both the town and the education budgets, which held tight against increases this year.
Hadley Rose, moderator of the RTM, and a member of that body since 2003 said, "The RTM has more power than any body in town. Ultimately we are responsible for the approval or non-approval of all major funding. People used to think of the RTM as a rubber stamp, but that has not been true for a while. What people fail to take into account is that the RTM acts as a check right up front. Knowing there is a body that provides oversight makes a difference, particularly in matters of budget requests, where approvals have to go through not only the Board of Education and the Board of Finance, but the RTM as well."
In the recent past, other hot-button approvals have undergone stiff scrutiny at the RTM, such as the recent decision by the Planning and Zoning Commission to approve a text amendment which paves the way toward lighting school fields for games at night. The approval by the Planning and Zoning Commission for the YMCA to build a new facility at its Mahackeno campus, a months-long and agonizing process, was reviewed by the RTM as well. Both approvals were ultimately upheld, but the distinct possibility that the RTM could reverse those decisions existed.
In its august history, the RTM has also served as a critical forum for such important decisions as the purchase by the town of Cockenoe Island and Baron's South.
Last year, the RTM also stepped from a largely reactive body to a proactive one. Four RTM members from District four succeeded in generating enough support in town to establish an ordinance which prohibits use of plastic bags at Westport's retail checkout counters, in an environmental milestone that put Westport on the map as the first town in the East to restrict the use of plastic bags.
Rose said that this year there are fewer contested districts than usual, saying the decrease could be due to the fact that there is there are no extremely contentious issues in the near term facing the town, such as in the past, when some residents sought to be on the RTM because they wanted a voice in matters such as the construction of the Y at Mahackeno, or laws controlling dogs at the beach.
"Perhaps people are more satisfied with the way things are running," said Rose.
The RTM has been a political stepping stone for two of Westport's first selectmen, including the current first selectman Gordon Joseloff, who served as the moderator of the RTM for 10 years before he won the election to his current job in 2005, calling his move from one job to the other "a seamless transisiton for the town."
Former first selectman Joe Arcudi also served on the RTM for a record 24 years before he won the town's top job. Others in town who have held their posts on the RTM for record periods of time include Lisa Rome, who is now retiring after 14 years on the RTM, and Bill Meyer, who is running again after 14 years of service. Steve Rubin has served on the RTM since 1993, with one term out when he unsuccessfully sought a position on the Board of Education.
Rose said, "We are incredibly fortunate to have such a plethora of capable people providing service to the town that other towns have to pay for. On the RTM we have doctors, former school principals, an astrophysicist, a lawyer, and more than I can name. It is an amazing and capable group."