Bysiewicz To Administer Oath To First Selectman Dunn At Inauguration

BROOKFIELD -- Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz will administer the ceremonial oath of office as Democrat Steve Dunn is sworn in this weekend for his second tenure as first selectman.

Dunn was initially elected in 2015 as the town's top elected municipal official and served until late 2021 after he had lost his bid for a fourth term. He has served the last two years as an Other Selectman.

The inauguration ceremony will be held on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Candlewood Lake Elementary School, which opened earlier this year for pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade students. Dunn was first selectman when the construction of the school was approved in 2019 at referendum.

Dunn has said that when he was first selectman he was impressed with the accessibility of Bysiewicz of Middletown - who had in-person conversations with him and occasionally called the first selectman's office to check in on various projects. In 2009, Bysiewicz, who was then Secretary of the State, administered the oath of office to Democratic nominee Bill Davidson, as he started what would be four years as first selectman.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Greenwich) will deliver the oath of office to Dunn's running mate in the November 7 election - unaffiliated voter Bob Belden, who has served as chairman of the Board of Finance and of the Board of Education, and to Republican Tara Carr, who will be the two other members of the Board of Selectmen for the upcoming two-year term.

Dunn defeated Carr in the recent election as she sought a second term as Brookfield' s chief elected official. However, she annexed enough votes to capture one of the two other seats on the board. The first regular meeting of the new term is scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m. at the Municipal Center.

Blumenthal has been an official at previous inaugural ceremonies in Brookfield, visited the town following the 2018 macroburst and stopped at Democratic campaign headquarters three days before the most recent municipal election to speak at a brief rally.

The other municipal officials elected in the November 7 balloting will be sworn in by Town Clerk Andrea DiStephan. The Democrats scored a sweep in the election. She also will do the formal swearing in of the three selectmen on Monday night.

Brookfield Democratic Town Committee Chairman Aaron Zimmer stated that residents are invited to a reception afterwards at the party's headquarters in The White House commercial center at 499 Federal Road.