Dunn Enthused About Classic New England Downtown Business Center

Scott Benjamin

BROOKFIELD – It was first envisioned at about the time that Ronald Reagan was leaving office, Joe Montana was helping turn the 49ers into a dynasty and Jay Leno was starting his run as the permanent guest host to Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show.

And by the 1990s the northern section of Federal Road in Brookfield became known to some as the demilitarized zone and a study indicated that there were 30,000 vehicle trips per day through the Four Corners intersection.

Then-Police Chief John Anderson said in early 1996 that he didn’t expect the Route 7 bypass to be built “in our lifetime,” considering that the project had first been proposed in the late 1960s and the state didn’t go forward with it in the mid-1970s when Super Route 7 was constructed. But despite some obstacles, the project was approved by the state later that year, the federal government agreed to provide the bulk of the money in 1998 and after some environmental snafus in 2007 construction began on the 2.1-mile route and it opened in November 2009.

That reformed the traffic patterns in the Four Corners of Federal Road, and now – eight years after then-Gov. M. Jodi Rell (R-Brookfield) took the first ride – there are sidewalks that resemble Greenwood Avenue in Bethel that are lit at night by classic streetlamps.

“It looks like a real downtown,” Brookfield First Selectman Steve Dunn said in an interview.

Perhaps someday they will name a section of the 198-acre Town Center of Brookfield after former Democratic First Selectman Ken Keller, who lost his bid for a third term in 1987 and then as chairman of the Economic Development Commission started to develop a plan in the late 1980s for a pedestrian-friendly central business district.

Dunn said the lack of parking, which has plagued the downtown business districts in New Milford, Danbury and Ridgefield for years, is a concern.

He said even after phase two of the streetscape is completed eight months from now, there will be only 58 street parking spaces.

Dunn said he would again seek funds from the Board of Finance – which rebuffed his efforts earlier this year - for an appraisal of possible parcels where 80 to 100 public parking spaces could be added. He said he has a parcel in mind, but declined to identify it.

He said he is still disappointed that there hasn’t been more retail development in the Town Center of Brookfield, but acknowledged that businesses have been cautious as they waited to see the central business district take shape.

Dunn, who will be sworn in to a second term on Sunday at 1 p.m. during inauguration ceremonies at Center Elementary School that will feature U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-5) of Cheshire, said one encouraging sign is that about 50 percent of the space in the Brookfield Village retail area has been rented.

Dunn said that the major new projects in the Town Center of Brookfield will generate between $1 million to $1.5 million in additional tax revenue annually, which would increase the grand list beyond the average annual 1.2 percent growth of the last 40 years.

The first selectman said that with intelligent decisions over time the added revenue can help pay for renovations to Huckleberry Hill Elementary School, an expansion of the 29-year-old police headquarters and a new library to replace the facility that opened 42 years ago.

Dunn said the projected town debt will be reduced by about half by 2027 and the three projects also would not overlap.

He noted, for example, that most school projects in Brookfield take at least six years from their initial conception to the completion of the construction and it will be sometime next year before a committee studying the school district’s capital needs and enrollment projections will have recommendations.

Library officials sponsored focus groups through the summer to get input on the new facility, which would be built on the horse field at the Municipal Center at a cost of $14.77 million. Dunn said they’re aiming for a February referendum since a $1 million grant would expire in March.

Dunn acknowledged that there may be various groups opposed to the project because of their attachment to youth soccer on the horse field; a belief that any new library should be built in the Town Center of Brookfield to generate foot traffic for retail outlets; libraries are becoming obsolete because of digitization; and despite the additional revenue from the Town Center there still won’t be enough revenue to hold down taxes and build three major capital projects over the coming years.

There is a committee studying how the town can maintain or add athletic fields, which have been at a premium for years.

Dunn said nothing will be built on the horse field until it has been determined that there is adequate athletic space in Brookfield, since the police headquarters expansion might eliminate the soccer field at the other end of the Municipal Center.

The first selectman said the concept of a library has changed, noting that the facility built in Ridgefield recently has many meeting rooms where students and businessmen can work on projects and Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops can meet.

Dunn said the Ridgefield Library has 20 meeting rooms, which each are frequently occupied.

However, he said he needs “a better understanding” on how library supporters are going to raise at least $1 million toward the project.

“That’s a lot of money in Brookfield,” said Dunn.

He also said he “wants more figures” on the operating costs associated with the proposed new facility.

Dunn, who has lived in Brookfield since 1983, said he has been comfortable in making the transition from being a bank executive to becoming the chief elected official of a suburb of 16,500 people. He oversees more than 100 employees in the municipal government.

“We have a higher responsibility because it’s their exact money,” Dunn explained in comparing his former job to the position of being first selectman. “You don’t have a choice between J.P Morgan Chase and Citibank.”

He said he agrees with the late Rick Sklar, the legendary program director at Musicradio77 WABC, who reportedly said that you don’t have to be a genius to run a successful organization. What you need to do is hire intelligent people, because an intelligent person isn’t going to make the same stupid mistake twice.

“We have excellent employees,” Dunn said. “If someone can learn from their mistake, you should want to keep that person.”

He said he usually seeks multiple opinions when making policy decisions and is pleased that the input from municipal employees had prompted him to reconsider an issue and take a different position than he had initially intended to pursue.

Dunn easily defeated long-time Board of Education member and youth coach Harry Shaker, the Republican nominee, in the November 7 election.

However, Shaker garnered enough votes that he secured one of the two other seats on the three-member Board of Selectmen.

Dunn labeled it “a polite campaign” in which there was little disagreement on the issues – except that Shaker wanted to put a moratorium on affordable housing, while Dunn wants to allow it in the Town Center of Brookfield, and Shaker objected to the proposed new library being built on the horse field.

It marked the fourth time in the last five elections that the Democratic nominee had captured the town’s top elected position. Republicans had dominated the races for decades until Bill Davidson, the Democratic nominee, prevailed in a three-way race in 2009.

Dunn said he was aided by a Democratic Town Committee that has been “re-energized” over the last two and a half years, particularly through the inclusion of younger members who have children in the local school district.

On state issues, the first selectman said although he has objected to some of Gov. Dannel Malloy’s (D-Stamford) policies, such as proposing more Education Cost Sharing aid for the cities at the expense of Brookfield and other suburbs, he praised him for tackling Connecticut’s fiscal crisis.

“For years, they kicked the can down the road before he came to office,” Dunn declared.

State Comptroller Kevin Lembo (D-Guilford) has noted that Malloy is the first governor in a generation to put adequate money into the state employees’ pension funds and CT Hearst business columnist Dan Haar has stated that since Malloy took office in 2011 the state work force has been trimmed by 10 percent with further reductions on the way.

“He’s done things that other governors have not gotten accomplished,” Dunn said of Malloy, who announced in April that he would not seek a third term next year. The governor has suffered from low poll ratings throughout his tenure as Connecticut has been continually plagued by budget shortfalls.

“However, you’ve got to continue to try and fix the pension fund,” the first selectman added, noting that it currently stands at an abysmal 35.5 percent even after Malloy began increasing funding early in his administration.

Said Dunn, “They should have been doing it for 40 or 50 years” with the larger funding in the pension system.

He said Malloy has been invited to Brookfield’s inauguration ceremonies.

“I’d love to see him,” Dunn said.

Malloy administered the oath of office to Davidson for his second term in 2011.