265 A.2d 502 | Conn. Super. Ct. | 1970
This is an application claiming that the defendant Helen D. Gangloff, as chief moderator, and the defendant Grace M. Podeszwa, as city clerk, *404
erred in declaring and certifying Maryclare Granata as having been elected to the board of selectmen of the city of New London at a municipal election held in that city on November 4, 1969, to take effect December 1, 1969, and that the plaintiff should have been declared to have been elected to the board of selectmen at that municipal election. This action apparently has been brought pursuant to §
An amended petition was filed, the allegations of which the defendants admitted except for a paragraph which set forth the claims of the plaintiff. The petition alleges in part:
"On November 4, 1969, a municipal election was held in the City of New London wherein there was an election for all members of the Board of Selectmen, a board consisting of three members. Said Board of Selectmen is an elective body elected every two years on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November to take office on the first Monday of December following such election. The City of New London is a municipal corporation of the State of Connecticut. The Board of Selectmen which . . . [was purportedly] elected on November 4, 1969 to take office on December 1, 1969 is to be composed of three members and each voter in the City of New London is entitled to vote for any three persons nominated in accordance with the Charter of said city for such office. The following was the result of said election for the Board of Selectmen, showing the names of the candidates, their political party and the total number of votes received:
Total Number Party of Votes "Name of Candidate Affiliation Received
Anthony Maiorano ..... Democrat ............ 3939 Richard L. Sheflott .. Democrat ............ 3920 Doris A. Blanco ...... Democrat ............ 3459 *405 Maryclare Granata .... Republican .......... 2999 Katherine M. Muller .. Republican .......... 2974 Spencer A. Kloter .... Republican .......... 2872
"The Chief Moderator for said election, Helen D. Gangloff, of New London, Connecticut, and/or Grace M. Podeszwa of New London, Connecticut, the City Clerk of said New London, have declared and/or certified the following individuals to have been elected to the Board of Selectmen for the term of office to commence December 1, 1969, to wit:
"Name Party Affiliation
Anthony Maiorano .................. Democrat Richard L. Sheflott ............... Democrat Maryclare Granata ................. Republican"
The plaintiff claims that in declaring and certifying Maryclare Granata as having been elected to the board of selectmen of the city of New London, the defendants have erred in that (a) the declaration and/or certification are contrary to the charter of the city of New London; (b) if the declaration and/or certification are based on §
"(a) The maximum number of members of any board, commission, committee or similar body of the *406 state or any political subdivision thereof, whether elective or appointive, except any such board, commission, committee or body whose members are elected on the basis of a geographical division of the state or such political subdivision, who may be members of the same political party shall be as specified in the following table:
"COLUMN I COLUMN II
Total Membership Maximum from one Party
3 ................................ 2 4 ................................ 3
". . . (c) In the case of any election to any such body the winner or winners shall be determined as under existing law with the following exception: The town clerk shall prepare a list of the candidates ranked from top to bottom according to the number of votes each receives; when the number of members of any one political party who would be elected without regard to this section exceeds the maximum number as determined under subsection (b) of this section, only the candidates of such political party with the highest number of votes up to the limit of such maximum shall be elected, and the names of the remaining candidates of such political party shall be stricken from the list. The next highest ranking candidates shall be elected up to the number of places to be filled at such election. . . ."
The applicable charter provisions of the city of New London are to be found in § 18 of Special Act No. 330 of the 1921 session of the General Assembly, as amended by Special Act No. 123 of the 1957 session; 18 Spec. Laws 719 § 18, as amended, 28 Spec. Laws 145 § 2; and § 11 of Special Act No. 378 of the 1965 session, amending what was originally § 78 of the 1921 act. 18 Spec. Laws 736 § 78, as amended, *407
32 Spec. Laws 395 § 11. Section 18 reads as follows: "The candidates for any office in any city election, in number equal to the places to be filled in any office, who receive the highest number of votes shall be declared elected. . . ." Section
In this connection, it might be well to note the legislature's intent by adverting to the wording of subsection (c) of §
Section 11 of Special Act No. 378 of the 1965 session of the General Assembly provides as follows: "Three selectmen shall be elected at each regular city election to serve a term of two years, after the first Monday in December next succeeding their election and until their successors are chosen and qualified. . . ." This section dropped the 1957 wording of § 18 of the charter, which spoke of those receiving "the highest number of votes," and thereby is in full accord with §
The plaintiff claims that §
It is the opinion of the court, therefore, that §
In Montano v. Lee,
In Sailors v. Board of Education, supra, 111, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the equal protection clause was not applicable to appointments to administrative boards. The plaintiff's counsel claims that the Supreme Court inSailors indicated that elections to administrative boards would fall under the "one man, one vote" principle. A reading of the case does not sustain the plaintiff's contention. It was only an assumption by way of argument, made by the court in making its ruling that, whatever might be the situation with respect to an election, the equal protection clause was not violated insofar as an appointment to an administrative board was concerned. Consequently, there has been no ruling by the highest court as to whether the equal protection clause is applicable to the election of a purely administrative body such as is to be found here with respect to the board of selectmen of the city of New London. The powers of that board, entirely administrative, involving no legislative functions, are limited solely to the duties which are required of selectmen under the constitution of this state, and the statutes supplementing it, in the making of voters and in other purely administrative duties. Under the charter of the city of New London, the selectmen have no legislative duties. New London Charter § 79 (1961); 18 Spec. Laws 736, No. 330 § 79. *411
The evil that the Supreme Court of the United States sought to eradicate by its decision in Baker
v. Carr, supra, and cases following it, was the actual securing by a minority, under various state constitutions and statutes, of a majority in the legislative halls of the state or its political subdivisions. Clearly, §
The plaintiff submitted a decision of the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, Oliver v. Board of Education,
In Hoblitzelle v. Frechette,
Finally, in considering the constitutionality of §
Hence, the conclusion of this court is that §
Judgment may be entered for the defendants, dismissing the petition of the plaintiff.