NORWICH- The City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to appoint former Board of Education member Rashid Haynes as the city’s new ratepayer representative to the board of the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative.
Recently, each CMEEC represented municipality was tasked with assigning a ratepayer. According to Alderwoman Stacy Gould, who is a member of the Appointments/Reappointments Committee, Haynes, 48, was selected out of a pool of six candidates.
Haynes, a Republican, is currently employed as a financial analyst at Electric Boat in Groton and was appointed mid-term to the Board of Education this year but failed to win re-election in November. He is credited with helping the board locate roughly $1.5 million in reductions to avoid layoffs.
Along with his appointment came a proposed ordinance outlining his position and compensation. The ordinance is similar to one passed by the state, and designates that any compensation come through CMEEC, not through the city.
The council also approved the ordinance unanimously, though Alderman Samuel Browning said he would like the ordinance amended to mandate the ratepayer report to the council regularly.