Dunn declines to second Carr's motion to censure Belden for remarks

By Scott Benjamin

BROOKFIELD -- The Board of Selectmen did not take action on a motion to censure one of its members for comments he made at the January meeting and then apologized for at the regular February meeting.

Selectman Tara Carr made the motion at the Monday night, March 3, meeting to censure Selectman Bob Belden for saying in January that he was reluctant to appoint her husband, Tony Carr, to the ad-hoc police facilities committee since there had been a heated argument about two years ago between Mr. Carr and Matt Grimes, who was up for appointment to the ad-hoc panel.

Tara Carr and Grimes, a former chairman of the Brookfield Board of Education, competed against each other in the 2023 Republican primary for first selectman, which Carr won.

Shortly after the start of the regular February meeting, Belden apologized for his remarks.

Belden said that Grimes contacted him after the January meeting and said that there hadn't been a verbal confrontation between him and Tony Carr.

Belden said at the February meeting that if Tony Carr had the time and there was a position available to serve on the committee, he would have his support. Belden noted that, among other things, Carr has extensive experience in the Army.

Carr is a graduate of the academy at West Point.

During public comment at the Monday night, March 3, regular meeting, Tony Carr called for a "writ of censure" to be placed on Belden.

He said that Belden made up "a bogus story" regarding the alleged dispute with Grimes. He called Belden's comments a "ridiculous statement."

Tara Carr, a Republican who served as first selectman from 2021 to 2023, made a motion to consider a writ of censure during the meeting, saying that Belden's comments were "inappropriate" and an "embarrassment to the town."

First Selectman Steve Dunn, a Democrat who lost to Carr in 2021 and then was elected first selectman for a second time over her in the 2023 balloting, declined to second the motion.

"Everybody has misspoken in their lifetime," said Dunn, who previously served as first selectman from 2015 to 2021. "He made a mistake in what he said."

Belden, a former Republican who has been an unaffiliated voter since late 2020, was Dunn's running mate in 2023 on the Democratic ticket.