A new ordinance creating a Municipal Ethics Commission in Deep River took effect on Dec. 4. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, several steps in the process of creating the commission have been modified to adhere to safety protocols required by the state.

Instead of an in-person town meeting to establish a list of candidates for the commission, a virtual one will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 15. The town meeting will adjourn for an absentee ballot process to elect commission members and alternates.

The town will provide notice of the town meeting in the Courier, as stipulated in the ordinance.

Communications regarding the town meeting or election from other sources, such as anonymous postcards, are not sanctioned by the town, as they “are against State Elections Enforcement Commission regulations,” said Deep River’s Town Clerk Amy Macmillan Winchell.

Once established, the new commission will consist of five regular members and two alternates. Anyone wishing to be considered for the commission can contact the Office of the First Selectman or the Town Clerk.

Nominations will also be taken at the town meeting on Dec. 15.

“At the town meeting, we are going to ask anyone whose name is up to introduce themselves and take three or four minutes to talk about why they would like to be elected to this particular commission,” First Selectman Angus McDonald said at the Nov. 24 Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting.

“Folks that are being nominated from the floor will also have that option,” he added.

In order to appear on the ballot, all individuals must meet the eligibility requirements set forth in the ordinance.

“The slate of nominees will only be people who meet all of the restrictions and requirements of the ordinance, so if they are seated on another board, then they can’t be on the slate for this,” said Winchell at the Nov. 24 meeting.

In addition to not serving as a member of any other agency, board, committee, or commission of Deep River, six other eligibility requirements are set forth by the ordinance, and pertain to a prospective candidate’s affiliation with any political party and relationship with the town as an employee or service provider, as examples. Full details are available at www.deepriverct.us.

All registered voters in Deep River can apply to vote by absentee ballot for candidates starting Wednesday, Dec. 16.

Applications will be made available on the town’s website www.deepriverct.us, by mail upon request, or in-person at the Town Clerk’s Office. If the Town Hall is closed to the public, applications will be available in a bin on the Town Hall steps.

The ballots, through which citizens will be asked to vote for seven people, will be available on Dec. 21. They will be distributed by mail or to those who appear in-person at the Town Clerk’s Office, per state election law.

Completed applications and absentee ballots can be delivered in-person, by mail, or placed in the Official Ballot Drop Box in front of Town Hall. The deadline to vote for the new commission members, which can only be done by absentee ballot, is 4 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 25, 2021.

The ballots will then be tallied by Deep River’s registrars of voters, with the town clerk determining positions, terms, and minority representation for the new commission.

“Unfortunately, because of the time restrictions, we were not allowed to do an endorsement period, like we would in a typical election, so what will have to happen is just based on the top vote getters and their own personal party affiliation, I will have to establish that representation, called minority representation,” said Winchell.

No more than three of the five regular members can be of the same political party, as set forth by the ordinance.

The two alternates “will have to be one of each party or two different [parties] because they are technically going to be appointed to sit for somebody ideally based on their party,” said Winchell.

Commission members will be announced on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, however, members whose terms expire in 2021 will need to participate in an endorsement period by town committees in July 2021 and the municipal election on Nov. 2, 2021.

Selectman James “Jim” Olson expressed optimism at the November BOS meeting, regarding the process.

“I think that it’ll all work out and then once we get into the election cycle next year, then it will just be more straightforward at that point because we’ll have more time to figure it all out and it will be a standard election process at that point,” he said.