Dunn praises Brookfield residents for overcoming adversity

By Scott Benjamin

BROOKFIELD - - Steve Dunn has seen the town and the nation undergo profound changes since he became first selectman in December 2015.

When he arrived in the corner office on the second floor of the Municipal Center all of the telephone poles in Brookfield were in place, there were no homeowners with bundles of fallen trees in their yards, the schools had not been closed for months, no resident was wearing a mask, “social distancing” wasn’t part of the vernacular, nor was “hybrid learning”, or “Marcoburst.”

The Democratic first selectman said the response by residents to the adversities underscores the character of the town.

Dunn said that since March residents have donated more than $60,000 to the Brookfield Recovers program that provides money to needy families and non- perishable items to the municipal food pantry.

He said the Macroburst in May 2018 “was a massive problem for the town.”

“Every single street in this town was virtually blocked,” he explained.

“Neighbors helped neighbors,” he said. “Neighbors cleared streets. It took a while to recover, but Brookfield pulled through.”

He believes Brookfield can also emerge successfully from the pandemic.

CT Hearst has reported that with COVID-19 cases surging, Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Greenwich) on November 2 announced a rollback of the phase three guidelines that had been implemented on October 8. The restaurants can only half of their usual seating capacity, there can be no more than eight people at a table and they have to close by 9:30 p.m.

Dunn noted that Brookfield recently went under a red alert – one of 70 municipalities that have reached that level. As of November 5, 120 of Connecticut’s 169 municipalities were in the red or orange alert categories.

The Washington Post reported on November 12 that nationally there has been a surge in cases and hospitalizations.

“It is a troublesome trajectory,” Dunn said in an interview. “Going into the winter season that doesn’t bode well.”

The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference has postponed the start of the winter sports season beyond the scheduled date of November 21 and Lamont has banned some high-risk sports.

Is the surge in cases due to the phase three opening of early October?

“That’s a logical conclusion to make,” Dunn said. “You cannot statistically validate that.”

“Most of the cases we’re seeing in Brookfield are intra-family,” he said.

Regarding the local economy, Dunn said, “I think many of the businesses in Brookfield are doing okay.”

“For example, people have been supporting the restaurants very well with take out,” he said. “I think they are getting 70 or 80 percent of their usual business. I don’t think it is perfect. I don’t think it’s what anybody wants.”

Dunn said the federal government should promptly approve more economic stimulus to further offset the loss of jobs and income.

Brookfield has benefitted from a migration from New York City and Westchester County since the pandemic began last spring.

“A number of people have moved to town,” Dunn said. “Many of them, I am told, are from New York City of Westchester County.”

Dunn said other area chief elected municipal officials have told him they have had similar experiences.

The first selectman said the current municipal budget included $500,000 for expenses related to the pandemic and to date there has been a “net expenditure” of $115,000.

Dunn said “tax receipts are up” and applications for building permits have held “steady.”

Brookfield has maintained an AAA bond rating from Standard & Poor’s and AA2 from Moody’s.

The fund balance, which was less than 11 percent a year ago is now at 12 percent with an expectation that it will eventually grow to at least 15 percent.

Dunn praised Lamont’s response to the pandemic.

“He has worked his tail off as have the people working for him have over the last eight months,” said Dunn. “If he gets new scientific information he moves to another program. He has formed groups that have advised him that have done a good job.”

State Rep. Bob Godfrey (D-110) of Danbury and Southern Connecticut State University Political Science and Urban Affairs Professor Jonathan Wharton had each said in January that they thought that the governor’s foibles in unsuccessfully trying to get a highways tolls plan enacted could become the watershed issue in the November 3 election.

Dunn remarked, “It didn’t happen because of what occurred. It was shaping up to be that, but that has taken a back burner to the pandemic.”

He added that it appears that Lamont has “become more open” to the government officials and the public as a result of his stewardship during the pandemic.

Regarding local business activity, Dunn said that Branson UltraSonics, which is building a $53 million complex on 13 acres in the Berkshire Corporate Park, should be occupying that structure as early as December.

The 198-acre Brookfield Town Center near the Four Corners intersection on Federal Road, in the 1990s it had been anticipated that the retail center at 777 Federal Road would become a hub, but a number of spaces have not been in operation in recent years.

Dunn said, “I think that 777 has been a disappointment to everyone in town. When you own a building like that you have to maintain it, and that building is very, very old.”

At one point, developers wanted to construct a six-story apartment building, a proposal that was rejected by municipal officials because it would pose a safety hazard in the event of a fire and it wasn’t consistent with the character of a suburban town.

He said the proposed new supermarket near 777 Federal Road should boost retail activity in that part of the Brookfield Town Center. The first selectman said that project has been approved by the Inland Wetlands Commission and is now being considered by the Zoning Commission. Additionally, work on the third and fifth phase of the Brookfield Town Center streetscape should be under way in 2021

Dunn remarked, “I would want [777 Federal Road] to be rented out completely,”

On another topic, he expects work to start late next spring on the $78.1 million construction of the new Huckleberry Hill Elementary School near the current school on Candlewood Lake Road.

Dunn said that the reimbursement funding was recently approved by the state Bond Commission, which lowers the municipal costs to $63.3 million.

The first selectman said the initial borrowing will be done at a 1.55 percent interest rate instead of the 4 to 6 percent that had been anticipated.

Dunn, who served for many years as a vice president for J.P. Morgan Chase, said through the pandemic the stock market has been surprisingly resilient with a high national unemployment rate.

He said that apparently is partly due to continued low interest rates.

On a separate subject, Wall Street Journal columnist Joseph Sternberg wrote in his 2019 book, “The theft of a Decade: How Baby Boomers Stole the Millennials Economic Future.” (Public Affairs, 288 pages), that people 40 and under face considerable hurdles as a result of an uncertain job market and staggering college student loan debt that prohibits them from buying their first house.

Dunn agreed, explaining, “It is more difficult for young people to get good-paying jobs that are a career instead of just being a job.”

He said that some students have “more than $100,000” in student loan debt as nationally the cost of college risen at twice the rate of the consumer price index over the last 30 years.

Dunn added, “The cost of the state schools is out of the reach of many people.”