Brookfield's New First Selectman Prepares for Transition

Written By Scott Benjamin

After being elected by a two-to-one margin, a plurality that surprised him, incoming Democratic First Selectman Steve Dunn has embarked on a listening tour among friends, foes and area municipal leaders.

“I want to get a lot of input and the best way is to talk to the people with experience,” he said during an interview November 19 at his home.

He has met with municipal department heads, education administrators, state Rep. Steve Harding (R-107), had conversations with former first selectmen Bill Davidson and Jerry Murphy, sought input from Selectman Marty Flynn and called up Bethel First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker and other area first selectman and mayors.

Davidson has said that while serving from 2009 to 2013 he developed a valuable rapport with Knickerbocker and Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi that helped him address issues.

Perhaps Dunn’s most valuable resource will be Ginny Giovanniello, who has been the executive assistant to the first selectmen since 1996 and is about to work with her seventh municipal leader.

“Everyone I’ve spoken with has said that she’s incredible, and she’s already been helpful to me,” Dunn said of the longtime Brookfield resident.

Dunn said he has no formal transition team, but has “about 30 people” that he is receiving input from as he prepares for the inauguration December 6, at 1 p.m. in Center Elementary School.

The retired vice president at J.P Morgan Chase, said one Republican reminded him recently that government doesn’t move at the same pace as Wall Street.

He defeated one-term Republican incumbent Bill Tinsley in the November 3 election, running on a platform of restoring integrity, increasing education funding and reviewing the plan of development in the 198-acre Town District Center.

“I thought it would be much closer than it was,” the incoming first selectman said when asked about the lopsided victory.

His campaign posted lawn signs throughout Brookfield with the message “Restore Integrity.”

Just hours following Tinsley’s 2013 victory by 81 votes over former Democratic Selectman Howard Lasser, it was disclosed that he was facing an embezzlement charge from work he had done as a cashier at a liquor store in Ludlow, Vermont. A short time later he pled no contest and the charge has since been removed from his record, according to The News-Times of Danbury.

Tinsley has said the charge was “false” and resulted from a misunderstanding with the liquor store owner, according to The News-Times. It also was disclosed shortly after the election that Tinsley had filed for bankruptcy.

Tinsley also has had to address potential violations submitted to the municipal Board of Ethics.

Dunn was criticized for mailing a flier about two weeks before the election that included photos from a video taken of Tinsley in which he was counting money from the receipts at the Vermont liquor store. Tinsley called flier “libelous” during a debate and some observers felt it crossed the line of fairness since it would be something that would be more associated with a national campaign.

“The truthful mailer,” Dunn said. “I did not create the truth. I was yelled at for stating the truth.”

He said he visited 1,400 homes during the campaign and “30 to 40 percent” of them had “no idea of what was going on in town” regarding the questions about Tinsley’s actions.

In an interview, Dunn acknowledged that concerns about Tinsley’s integrity were a principal reason for his victory, but that there also was “a perfect storm” of worries among voters about school spending and the development of the emerging 198-acre Town District Center near the Four Corners intersection of Federal Road.

He estimates that “500 to 600” registered Republicans voted for him. The turnout of more than 49 percent was the largest for a municipal election in Brookfield in recent memory as apparently a number of residents voted who don’t typically participate in the odd-numbered years.

Dunn said he believes part of the result was due to the emergence in recent years of A Brookfield Party, which had its candidates cross-endorsed in several instances by the Republican Party.

He said, in effect, there were six Republicans serving on the Board of Finance which resulted in a lack of concern for people seeking more spending for the school district.

“There were people who felt that they were not listened to by their elected officials,” Dunn said.

The Democrats elected more of their candidates than in any election in decades, even to the point where Republicans Bob Belden and Eve Sturdevant gained seats on the Board of Education through minority representation, something that has been common for the Democrats through the years.

“I have no problem with that,” Dunn said regarding Republicans serving on the Board of Education through minority representation. “You need to have different voices.”

However, he said even with the Democrats’ gains, they have no “working majorities” on any municipal board or commission as a result of the combination of members elected by the Republican and A Brookfield parties.

Dunn said there are “flexible” Republicans - in the mold of Harding, who also serves on the Board of Education - who are willing to make compromises.

Harding, for example, has expressed concern about Tinsley’s commitment to education spending.

Could the 2015 election be an indication of systematic changes for the Democratic Party, which has now won the first selectman’s office in three of the last four elections?

“We worked really hard at getting our core voters and some new people,” Dunn said.

He added that during the 2013 municipal election the Democrats had phone banks of four or five people and during the 2015 race at least five times he had 20 people doing a phone bank from his house.

Dunn said more than 150 people volunteered in his effort, the most in any recent campaign by the Brookfield Democrats.

“The Republicans know how to get their voters to the polls,” he said. “They are a party to be reckoned with. We had to contend with that and will continue to have to do that in the future.”

Republicans captured 10 consecutive first selectman races between 1987 and 2005. GOP candidates for state and federal offices usually win in Brookfield.

“I think the town has gone through a few years of turmoil, dissension,”
Dunn said regarding some of the friction over issues regarding Tinsley’s integrity and spending in the school district. “It needs to stop. The way to do that is to have open government where everyone gets a voice.”

Dunn said he will promote community outreach along with other municipal officials during office hours at Layla’s Bakery each Friday from 8 to 10 a.m., a practice that began during the campaign.

“People seem more comfortable with you in a neutral setting,” he explained.

Based on a survey his campaign did earlier this year, Dunn said the top two issues among voters are development of the Town District Center and education.

Dunn said he supports a nine-month moratorium on the construction in the Town District Center so that residents can best determine If there should be so much affordable housing built in that central business zone.

He said even with the development of the Town District Center into a business area similar to Greenwood Avenue in Bethel, he doesn’t anticipate that the percentage of tax revenue from commercial projects will increase much in the coming years in comparison to housing, since there is considerable residential construction under way

Dunn said that commercial revenues account for about 14 percent, the same as when Murphy initially took office 12 years ago.

Murphy said then he thought someday the commercial revenue could account for “26 to 27 percent” of the tax base.

Dunn said the percentage of commercial revenue in the tax base has remained about the same partly because the extensive amount of housing that has been constructed in the recent years in the Town District Center and elsewhere along Federal Road.

Dunn said he shares Tinsley’s concern about the potential for closing a school since over the last seven years enrollment in the school district has declined from 3,100 to 2,700 with projections of it eventually dropping to 2,400.

Tinsley has said more housing should be built for people between 25 and 45 years of age.

However, Dunn said some of the new housing may not be revenue neutral. He said Laurel Hill, for example, is expected to pay $135,000 annually in taxes for its 72 units.

He said it costs $13,500 to educate a student, so if there are 10 students from Laurel Hills, the tax revenue would only pay for their education and there would not be any tax revenue generated to cover the costs of other services.

The incoming first selectman said that he is concerned about large class sizes, noting that there are 31 students in one Advanced Placement section at Brookfield High School.

Dunn acknowledged that it will be difficult to hire additional teachers since Connecticut’s economy continues to show only modest improvement as Gov. Dannel Malloy and lawmakers wrestle with a state budget deficit that is projected at $350 million to $370 million.

On another topic, Dunn said he will consult with education officials on plans to renovate Huckleberry Hill Elementary School and Center Elementary School, an issue that he and Tinsley agreed upon during the campaign.

He said he doesn’t yet have a timeline for those renovations.

Dunn said that he is impressed with the school district’s new leadership team, headed by the Superintendent John Barile. He succeeded Anthony Bivona, who was dismissed, largely as a result of budget snafus that resulted in criminal charges against former schools Business Manager Art Colley.

Regarding another topic, he said he has met with Town Counsel Tom Beecher, a New Milford resident or who is part of the largest law office in Danbury. Beecher served as town attorney for a combined eight years under both Murphy, former First Selectman Bob Silvaggi and Tinsley. Other law firms have submitted proposals for consideration.

Former state House Speaker Fran Collins, the senior member of the Danbury law firm, has served as co-Town Counsel with Beecher during part of his tenure in Brookfield.

Six years ago, under Davidson, a selection wasn’t made until the regular February meeting of the Board of Selectmen, when Danbury attorney David Groggins was the choice.

Dunn said he would seek input from Murphy, Davidson, incoming Democratic Selectman Sue Slater and Flynn in hopes of the Board of Selectmen reaching a decision before January 1.

He said there would be an advantage to having a large law firm since there would be specialists available when issues arise.

On a separate subject, some municipal officials have sought to build a new library since 1999 to replace the current facility, which opened in 1975.

“The library was not even on the list,” Dunn said of the results of the survey from earlier this year.

He said that libraries are no longer the central learning areas that they were before the advent of the Internet.

Dunn said that “libraries need to adapt,” noting, for example, that the Ridgefield Library has private tutoring rooms for instruction.

The incoming first selectman said he agrees with Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, a Republican, who has said that voters should not support candidates that are ideological, and that too often elected officials are unwilling to change their position on an issue after someone provides a valuable new insight on that topic.

“There are some people on the [Brookfield] Republican Town Committee that have not changed their opinions on issues through the years,” Dunn said.

Regarding his philosophy of governing, he said, “A boss tells you what to do. A leader shows you what to do and then encourages you to do it.”

Photo by Wendy Mitchell