USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Darien > Town of Darien, founded 1641, incorporated 1820 > Part 4
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The Selectmen, with the town clerk, "make" voters every year, the Board being the sole judges of the qualifi- cations of the applicants. The First Selectman, with other officials, is a member of various boards of appointment which function from time to time. The appointments made by this means include members of the Welfare Board, the Police Commission, and the Park Board.
The Selectmen also, every three years, recommend to the Board of Finance the name or names of suitable candi-
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MATHER HOUSE, 1778
BOSTON POST ROAD LOOKING EAST, 1900
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GOVERNMENT
dates for the position of Superintendent of Highways.
Through the fact that their annual budgets are incor- porated in that of the Selectmen, this board also exercises a degree of control over the Welfare Department, the fire companies insofar as these latter depend upon town finances, the town clerk and town treasurer, and various other officials, such as the tree warden, the registrars of voters, the Board of Relief, the tax commissioner, the building inspector, and even the officials of the Town Court.
In its present makeup the Selectmen's annual budget also includes appropriations for all amortization and in- terest payments on the town's debt, both funded and float- ing, and including notes or bonds sold in connection with highways and bridges, schools and other public buildings.
The Selectmen, five in number, are elected annually on the first Monday in October and take office immediately. The First Selectman's salary is $900, while the other mem- bers of the board receive $225 per annum. The present in- cumbents are Andrew Shaw, First Selectman; Edwin W. Cooper, Edward B. Hindley, Arthur G. Maury, and All- ton T. Williams. Their clerk, who is a full-time employee, is Stanley C. Cahoon. The board meets once a week, usually on Monday afternoon, in its office in the Town Hall.
BOARD OF FINANCE
THE Board of Finance of the town of Darien is composed of six electors of the town, two of whom are elected each year for a three-year term. The board chooses a chair- man and a clerk at its organization meeting on the third Tuesday of October of each year. All members must be property owners, and all serve without pay.
On the first Tuesday of August of each year all the de- partments of the town government, with the exception of the Board of Finance, hold a joint public meeting upon one week's notice, published in a newspaper. At this meet- ing estimates of appropriations for the following year are discussed. Thereafter, itemized estimates of the monies necessary for the following year are prepared by the Board
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of Education, the Superintendent of Highways and Bridges, the Board of Selectmen, and the Police Commis- sion.
These estimates are filed with the Board of Finance on the first Tuesday of September and are published once in a newspaper circulated in the town of Darien. On the sec- ond Tuesday of September the Board of Finance holds a public hearing to discuss the items in the estimates from the various boards, as above described.
On or before the third Tuesday of September the Board of Finance must prepare appropriations for the next en- suing fiscal year, beginning on the first Monday of October, to cover expenses of the various departments of the town, to pay off any part of the debt of the town or to provide a fund for public improvements, and the Board of Finance must likewise lay upon the grand list of the town, last completed, such tax as it deems necessary and may fix the time when such tax becomes due and payable. Such ap- propriations and the rate of taxation fixed by the Board of Finance must be filed in the town clerk's office and pub- lished in a newspaper circulated in the town of Darien on or before the last Tuesday of September, and such ap- propriations and rate of taxation are thereupon submitted by the Board of Selectmen to the annual Town Meeting held during the first week of October.
The Board of Finance has power to recommend special appropriations, after the annual budget is made up, only to meet an actual emergency or when there has been an omission in the annual appropriation due entirely to over- sight or inadvertence. Such a special appropriation must be submitted to a special town meeting, and in the event of its adoption, a special tax is laid to cover the appropria- tion, except that the Board of Selectmen may be authorized to borrow on the note or notes of the town, money to pro- vide for the special appropriation and provision for the payment thereof is included in the annual budget for the next succeeding year.
The various town boards may not expend the items of their respective budgets for purposes other than those specified at the time the appropriations are made, except with the approval of the Board of Finance. The Board
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of Education, the only exception to this rule, may transfer its budget items within its discretion. This is statutory, applying to all Boards of Education within the State.
TOWN CLERK
THE office of the town clerk, located in the Town Hall, is the clearing house for all of the business records of the town departments.
The town clerk is elected on the first Monday of October in the odd-numbered years for two years and takes office on the first day of January following.
Since the town of Darien was created by legislative act in 1820, there have been thirteen town clerks, as follows: Joshua Morehouse, Darius H. Scofield, Edward Scofield, Abram Clock, George H. Wallace, Charles H. Waterbury, James H. Gorham, Ira Scofield, Henry Gorham, John S. Waterbury, Thaddeus Bell, Stephen R. Hoyt, and James A. F. MacCammond, the present incumbent.
The clerk's assistants today are: Anna L. Conn, who acts as both assistant clerk and assistant registrar of vital statistics, and two junior clerks, Mrs. Julia Ward and Olive Crofoot.
The town clerk's duties are many. The Index to the General Statutes specifies about 350. He receives all deeds of whatever kind, sees that they are properly recorded and indexed on the land record books.
On March 31 of each year the tax collector files with the town clerk tax liens for all property the taxes on which have not been paid, and these all have to be indorsed, re- corded, compared, and indexed.
The clerk also issues hunting, fishing and trapping li- censes. He issues dog and kennel licenses and permits to keep bees.
He acts as secretary of the town departments commit- tee meeting on the first Monday of each month. He pre- sides at all town meetings until the chairman is elected and has all proceedings recorded in the town minute book. He acts as chairman at the annual meeting of the Board of Finance until the chairman is elected.
He meets with the Selectmen to make voters prior to
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elections; records the names and addresses of all those so made, and indorses on citizenship papers of the foreign- born the date of their admission as electors. He provides all election supplies, including voting machines or paper ballots, and reports to the Secretary of State the names of all successful candidates and the vote cast for every candidate of every party and must keep copies for his own records and enter them on the town minute book.
He is also ex-officio registrar of vital statistics and as such issues marriage licenses and receives, indorses, re- cords, and indexes all births, marriages, and deaths.
TOWN TREASURER
ALL towns, at their annual town meeting in the odd-num- bered years, elect town treasurers who hold office for two years from the date of their election or until their suc- cessor is elected and qualified.
Darien's town clerk, James A. F. MacCammond, is also town treasurer, the two offices being very closely linked together. Under the law creating this office, he has about 135 duties to perform.
After the Board of Finance has finished the budget and the Town Meeting has approved it, the town treas- urer, in addition to the regular set of books which he is required to keep, sets up a budget book, covering about 125 items of the various departments of the town, and makes sure that before any check is drawn and signed the amount called for does not exceed the balance in that par- ticular item.
He has to keep account of all bonds, their amortization and interest dates and date of cancelation, and in the pres- ence of the chairman of the Board of Finance and the First Selectman burns them, each signing a notation to that ef- fect in the bond book.
He has to keep track of all notes and their due dates and interest periods. He receives all monies and credits them to the various departments and their subdivisions.
He receives all money from the property tax collector and the personal tax collector and receipts therefor.
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GOVERNMENT
As treasurer he is agent of the Town Deposit Fund which contains money received from the United States in pursuance of an act of Congress approved June 23, 1836. In the case of Darien this amounts to $3, 112.84, the income from which can only be used for school purposes. This is really a trust fund which the State of Connecticut can take back at any time.
The bonded indebtedness of the town cannot, under the law, be more than 5 per cent of the Grand List.
TOWN COURT OF DARIEN
THE Town Court of Darien was established by a special act of the General Assembly of Connecticut, approved May 20, 1925, as amended by special acts approved May 21, 1929, and April 23, 1931. It has civil jurisdiction in causes not exceeding $1000 and criminal jurisdiction to fines not exceeding $1000, or a jail sentence of one year, or both.
The judge and associate judge are appointed by the General Assembly. Each judge must be a legal resident of the town and an attorney at law, admitted to practice in the State. Each receives, as does the prosecuting attorney, a salary of $1000 a year. The act provides that the pros- ecuting attorney, appointed by the judge, shall be the clerk of the court. There may also be an assistant clerk, his compensation being limited by statute to not over $500 a year.
Special sessions of the court are held at such times as the judges deem necessary. Regular sessions are held each Saturday morning at the courthouse on Hecker Avenue.
In addition to giving attention to criminal and civil mat- ters, the judges preside over the Small Claims Court, the jurisdiction of which is limited to $100. The assistant clerk keeps all files and records of the court pertaining to small claims.
The judge, associate judge, prosecuting attorney, clerk, and assistant clerk, by virtue of their holding such offices, hold like official positions respectively in the Juvenile Court
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of Darien, which exercises original jurisdiction over all proceedings concerning uncared-for, neglected, dependent, and delinquent children, except in matters of guardianship and adoption, and all other matters affecting property rights of any child, over which the Probate Court has juris- diction. By act of the Legislature just adjourned a county Juvenile Court was created, which will take over the func- tions of the local Juvenile Court.
Judge Charles Bates Dana was the judge originally ap- pointed, following the passage of the act creating the court in 1925, and has been reappointed at the end of each term since.
By special act of the Legislature, the position of Asso- ciate Judge was created in 1931, and William A. Kelly was appointed to this position. Charles E. Williamson is the prosecuting attorney and clerk, and Stanley C. Cahoon, assistant clerk. At present, there is no probation officer.
PROBATE COURT
THIS court was created by an act of the Legislature estab- lishing the Probate District of Darien, May 18, 1921. It is located on the first floor of the Town Hall and is pre- sided over by a judge elected biennially.
Mark W. Norman was elected the first judge in No- vember, 1922, and held the office continuously until January, 1930, when he retired because of the pressure of work in his private practice.
Alfred N. Tweedy was elected probate judge in No- vember, 1930, to succeed Judge Norman, and has held the office continuously since that time. His present term ex- pires in January, 1937.
The Court has jurisdiction of the probate of wills; the administration of intestate estates; accountings by execu- tors, administrators, trustees, guardians, and conservators ; adoptions ; the appointment of guardians and conservators ; commitments to reform institutions and temporary homes, and commitments of the insane. Court days are Mondays and Saturdays. The clerk is Anna L. Conn; the assistant clerk, James A. F. MacCammond.
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REGISTRARS OF VOTERS
THE registrars, one for each of the major parties, have charge of the party enrollment lists, and also receive ap- plications for enrollments in their respective party cau- cuses, as well as the names of those desirous of being made legal voters. It is also their province to take certain pre- scribed steps toward eliminating the names of those who through nonresidence or other causes are no longer eligible to vote in this town.
On the first and second Fridays in August of each year, dates prescribed by statute and duly advertised in the local press and by notice on the town bulletin board, the regis- trars sit to receive applications for enrollment in the parties. Such applications must be signed by the voters personally, although they may be transmitted to the regis- trars by other persons. At this time the caucus lists are gone over and the official lists compiled, which prevail, except as added to by the making of new voters, until the same time the following year.
On Tuesday of the fourth week preceding the election, again on duly advertised and posted notice, the registrars meet to receive applications from those who wish to be made voters. The qualifications for voting in a Connecti- cut town are United States citizenship, one year's residence within the State, and six months' residence within the town, with the residential qualifications maturing on election day, so that a person who has moved into town on the first of April can still be made a voter in time for the October election if his other qualifications are in order. Applica- tions to be made voters may be received from any qualified elector, but the applicant's name must be given to the registrars for inclusion in the list of those "to be made," which is filed with the town clerk and posted on the bul- letin board.
Having the prospective voter's name on this list is not sufficient, however, for on the Saturday of the third week preceding election he must appear before a board com- posed of the Selectmen and the town clerk for examina- tion, under oath, as to his qualifications to be made. This
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consists of an affirmation of his residential and citizen- ship qualifications and proof of ability to read, followed by the administering of the elector's oath.
The registrars are also charged with the preparation of the official list of electors, which is used as a check-list at elections and at town meetings, although in the latter, when no election of officers is scheduled, any property owner is qualified to vote on matters pertaining to assess- ments and appropriations.
BOARD OF EDUCATION AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS
SINCE the union of the original thirteen colonies into a federation, education has been a function of the State, and the different State governments have made more or less elaborate and adequate provision for such education. In Connecticut, public education has been placed under the control of the State Board of Education, which in turn has delegated some of its powers and duties to local boards of education in each of the 169 towns.
The Darien Board of Education (a bi-partisan body) consists of nine members, three of whom are elected at each annual town meeting for a term of three years. The board each year elects a chairman and a secretary and has three standing committees-Finance, Personnel, and Build- ings and Grounds-appointed by the chairman. All mat- ters concerning public education in Darien are under the jurisdiction of this board. For a period of years, the Board of Education has maintained, and the town has financed, a rather liberal, but not radical, program of edu- cation. The Darien schools are favorably known as good schools and are organized under a modification of the so- called 6-6 plan, with four six-year elementary schools, containing kindergartens, and one six-year junior-senior high school. It is now proposed to erect a separate junior high school.
Darien is one of the most fortunate of the several towns in the State, measured by its ability to support education, and has made rather adequate provision of buildings and playgrounds for the schools, as the following chart will show :
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1933-34
Enroll-
School
Type of Building
Size of Plot
ment
Pupil Capacity
Baker
Modern, semi-fire- proof, stucco
6.2 acres
300
320
High
New, very modern,
fireproof, brick
16.5
568
375-400
Hindley
Non-modern, good condition, wood
1.002
149
160
Holmes
New, very modern, fireproof, brick
5.2
315
340
Royle
Modern, semi- fireproof, brick
2.0
320
340
The total value of buildings, grounds, and equipment used for public education in Darien is conservatively esti- mated about $850,000.
For the school year 1933-34 the total enrollment in the schools was 1652; the number of employees, superintend- ent, principals, teachers, supervisors, janitors, etc., 67; the per-pupil cost, based on total enrollment, in the elementary schools $74.34 and in the high school $117.41; the per- pupil cost, based on average daily attendance, in the elemen- tary schools $94.47 and in the high school $140.87 ; and the total expenditures for operating the schools, $147,267.42.
For administrative purposes, the local schools are or- ganized in a manner somewhat resembling the line and staff organization of certain business and industrial en- terprises or the army, with the Board of Education acting as a board of directors or a headquarters unit; the super- intendent of schools the executive and liaison officer; the principals, teachers, janitors, and attendance officer the line officers, and the supervisors and health personnel the staff or service officers.
Playrooms and gymnasiums in the various schools, to- gether with the playgrounds adjacent to the several school buildings, furnish ample opportunities for a complete phys- ical and health education program and recreational activi- ties suited to the capacities of the children. The super- visors of the various special subjects endeavor to furnish, stimulate, direct and improve instruction in their respective
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fields. Physical examinations, health examinations, eye- sight and hearing tests, first aid, home visitation, clinic work in the near-by hospitals, and pioneer work in school dentistry are but a few of the activities carried on by the school physician, school nurse, and school dentist.
For the past few years it has been the policy of the Darien Board of Education to adapt the local educational program to the needs of the children and people of the town, to continue to improve the physical plant and the teaching force in the schools, to interest the parents in sending their children to the public schools, to develop a spirit of good will and confidence in public education on the part of the people of the community, and to adopt innovations of proven worth in education as they develop. In addition, an attempt is being made to provide educa- tional guidance and such pre-vocational and vocational courses as a study of the needs of the children indicates are desirable and the financial support of the community makes possible. Such a policy has offered broad and stimu- lating educational opportunities for the children. The re- sults of standard tests given to the pupils at various levels in the schools, as well as the success of Darien High School graduates in institutions of higher learning, have amply demonstrated the effectiveness of the local school program.
The plans of the Darien Board of Education contem- plate the provision of a program of education for the future which will be sufficiently comprehensive to meet the educational challenges of the youth and adults of the community and flexible enough to be adaptable to the edu- cational problems arising from a changing social order.
PARK COMMISSION
CREATED by the Legislature of 1935, the new Park Com- mission has had little opportunity to do anything except organize, begin a study of the needs of the town, and take over the administration of Pear Tree Point Park, the town bathing beach and recreational center. Looking to the problems of the future, it is a body of public-spirited citi- zens in whom the citizenry in general repose confidence and take satisfaction. Its members, three in number, are ap-
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pointed by a board consisting of the First Selectman, the chairman of the Board of Finance, and the chairman of the Town Plan and Zoning Commission. The First Select- man and the Superintendent of Highways and Bridges are members ex officio but do not vote in its proceedings.
John Sherman Hoyt, chairman of the new board, has been president of the Tokeneke Association since its or- ganization and is one of the largest land owners in the town. His ancestors were among the earliest settlers of Fairfield County. He has been a resident of the town for the last thirty years, is a graduate civil engineer, School of Mines, Columbia University, and has been responsible for the orderly and beautiful development of a large section of the Darien shore front. The other two appointed mem- bers are Mrs. Edward R. McPherson, Jr. and James A. Farrell, Jr.
Mrs. McPherson is a daughter of Stephen Mather, founder and director for many years of the National Park System. Her forebears were among the first settlers of the town and she resides in the old Mather homestead, where her father was born.
Mr. Farrell is a son of James A. Farrell, a retired presi- dent of the U.S. Steel Corporation. He is a graduate of Yale and is one of the charter members of the Ox Ridge Hunt Club and at present its Master of Hounds. He is one of the younger men taking an active interest in the town's affairs.
Under its enabling act this commission has exclusive care, management, and control of all parks and parkways owned by the town and has power to receive, on behalf of the town, gifts and donations of land or other property for park or parkway purposes. It is authorized to lay out and improve walks, drives, roads, and bridges where neces- sary; to drain, plan, and otherwise improve and develop park property; to erect such buildings as may be needed for demonstration purposes or for the use, protection, and refreshment of the public; to establish bathhouses and to provide for their care and maintenance and for that of the bathing and other facilities connected therewith.
Among the particular duties devolving on the commis- sion is the renting of bathhouses and the issuance of "beach
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tags" for admission to the Pear Tree Point parking space. The latter item is taken care of by the gate tenders at the beach, while the houses are assigned to local residents by Stanley C. Cahoon on behalf of the commission. Mr. Cahoon may be found during office hours in the Selectmen's office in the Town Hall.
DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS
THE Department of Highways and Bridges of the town of Darien was created by a special act of the Legislature in 1915. The act transferred all authority formerly imposed upon the Board of Selectmen to the Superintendent of Highways and Bridges in regard to the construction and maintenance of all highways, bridges, and sidewalks in the town of Darien. The act was later amended, making it obligatory for the superintendent to render advice and assistance to any other town department when so requested. The Superintendent of Highways and Bridges is, ex officio, a member of the Town Plan and Zoning Commission and also of the newly created Park Commission.
There are in the town of Darien about eighty miles of road, forty-five miles of which are under the jurisdiction of this department. There are about 10.5 miles of State high- way in the town and approximately twenty-five miles of private roads or roads not legally accepted by the town. Of the forty-five miles of road maintained by this depart- ment, 4.5 miles are cement concrete, 2.25 miles asphaltic concrete, 6.5 bituminous macadam, 25 miles oil-surface treated, and 7 miles gravel surface.
The personnel of the Highway Department consists of the superintendent, the chief assistant to the superintend- ent, one foreman, and normally five laborers, among whom are numbered a truck driver and a tractor and road-machine operator.
The equipment of the department includes the following : a snow plow and tractor, a road grader, a two-ton truck, a runabout with box body, tar kettle, drags, sand spreader, and small tools housed in a garage on town property at the corner of Mechanic Street and Old King's Highway North.
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