Political Newcomer Seeks Brookfield's Top Election Position

Profile Of Steve Dunn

By Scott Benjamin

Steve Dunn says that his international banking experience is applicable to being a municipal government leader since he recognizes that every resident is a client.

“It’s not just your corporation’s money, its other people’s money” said Dunn, who is expected to capture the Brookfield Democratic nomination for first selectman July 27 at the party caucus. “You’re not just answering to your boss, you’re answering to everyone in town.”

“I have a lot of experience in managing money and managing people,” said the longtime resident, who spent 35 years in financial securities including 23 years at J.P. Morgan Chase where he was a vice president when he retired two years ago.

“You are running an organization, you are running a budget,” said Dunn, who indicated that he decided to run for town’s top elected office late last year after some residents urged him to because they are concerned about the direction of the municipal government.

He said a number of municipal officials, including first-term Republican First Selectman Bill Tinsley, have erred in trying to bond for day to day operating expenses so that they could achieve a zero percent tax mill rate increase.

“We have a candidate who ran two years ago as a fiscal conservative,” Dunn said of Tinsley, who formerly served as chairman of the Board of Finance and vice chairman of the Board of Education. “I don’t consider it fiscally conservative if you’re bonding day to day expenses.”

“Would you bond for a car engine for 20 years, something that wouldn’t be around 20 years from now?” he said during a recent interview at his Lyndenwood Drive home. “I think that Mr. Tinsley went to whatever lengths necessary to get a zero percent tax increase because he wanted to run on that platform.”

Actually, the tax mill rate will decline slightly for the fiscal year starting July 1.

This was the first time in more than 20 years that Brookfield’s municipal taxes didn’t increase.

“I think this was a combined decision of the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance that people have appreciated, based on what I’ve heard, because the mill rate didn’t increase,” Brookfield Republican Town Committee Chairman Matt Grimes said. “I don’t think you would want to do bonding for operating expenses every year. I think it is a good thing as long as we don’t make it a habit.”

Grimes said that Dunn is the candidate with unrealistic expectations.

“His whole platform appears to be throwing more money at education and increasing property taxes,” he said.

“The Republicans in Brookfield always say that the Democrats are about tax and spend, but that’s not the case,” Dunn explained.

Dunn said the school district’s new leaders, especially new Superintendent John Barille, will be under a magnifying glass after the district had $1.2 million in overspending under his predecessor, Anthony Bivona, and former Business Manager Art Colley, as money was inappropriately carried over from one fiscal year to the next.

“After what happened recently, I think many people don’t think the school district spends its money wisely,” he said. “I share that concern.”

Dunn said he believes the school district should not have used the same auditor for 10 years and also should have conducted a forensic audit.

“But, it’s not realistic to make huge reductions in school spending when there are contract increases for staff that are two and a half or three percent a year and other expenses are increasing,” he declared.

Dunn added that many residents supporting higher spending in the schools attended this year’s annual town meeting and the “too low” advisory question for the school spending component of the budget had the most votes in the May referendum among the three choices for that question.

He there is “a sea change” in the number of people who are persuadable in this election, partly because the municipal government has become too one-sided after the recently-formed A Brookfield Party ran candidates in 2013 that were cross-endorsed by the Republicans and, in effect, took the minority-representation seats that had often been held by the Democrats.

Dunn said, for example, the Board of Finance hasn’t been receptive enough to residents seeking more funds for the schools.

Supporters of A Brookfield Party have noted that, for example, Democrats were winning seats on the Board of Finance and Board of Education over some of the Republican candidates who had higher vote totals because of the state’s minority representation law.

“What they did was legal,” Dunn acknowledged. “I’m not sure that it was the right thing to do.”

“However, and I’m not saying that the Democrats have always been lackluster, but sometimes through the years there may have been an attitude that we’re going to get some seats on these boards even if we don’t’ campaign hard.”

“I think what happened should be impetus for the party to improve, and it has,” he said. “The Democrats are more energized than they were two years ago.”

Dunn said that the persuadable voters include people active on the Take Back Brookfield Facebook page that was established early in Mr. Tinsley tenure.

Tinsley, who initially was elected to the Board of Education 20 years ago, defeated former two-term Democratic Selectman Howard Lasser by 81 votes in the 2013 election. He had placed second in 2009, losing to Democratic nominee Bill Davidson by 288 votes in the three-way race.

However, just hours following Tinsley’s 2013 victory, 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.

Grimes said he expects that Tinsley will annex the Republican nomination at the July caucus. Since 1987, the Republican nominee has won the first selectman’s office in 11 of the 14 elections.

Dunn said he will not discuss Tinsley’s personal issues during the campaign, but will be critical of some of his government policies.

“Considering the demographics, it’s an uphill battle,” he acknowledged. “But I wouldn’t be devoting six months to this if I didn’t think the race was winnable.”

Republicans hold an edge in registration with 3,320 members to just 2.027 for the Democrats. There are 219 residents registered with other parties, including the 63 who are with A Brookfield Party.

However, the largest block are the 4,178 unaffiliated voters, according to the figures provided by Town Clerk Joan Locke.

Dunn said that voter turnout has typically been in the “low to mid 40 percent range” in recent municipal elections in Brookfield, about half of the participation in town for a presidential election, “and a lot of the same people are the ones going to the polls to vote for the municipal candidates.”

Dunn said the Democratic slate, which will include Sue Slater - who works in the insurance industry and is a longtime civic volunteer - for one of the other seats on the Board of Selectmen, will include several residents who have not previously run for municipal offices.

“I think the town is ready for some new people running for office,” said Lasser, who opted not to seek the Democratic nomination for first selectman after making an unsuccessful bid in the special election in February for the seat in the 107th state House District.

“We need to win a good share of the seats on the various boards so that we can be effective,” said Dunn, who has a bachelor’s degree from Manhattanville College and a master’s degree from Fordham University.

The Democrats have been the minority party in Brookfield for at least decades.

Davidson, who served as first selectman for two terms as an unaffiliated voter running on the Democratic ticket, had previously been a registered Republican during a long career on the Board of Finance, where he served as chairman, and for one term on the Board of Selectmen.

Grimes said the Republican municipal slate will have a mixture of candidates.

“I think that we have had 24 or 25 people interview with the Vacancy Committee for 19 positions,” he said. “There should be some incumbents and some newcomers.”

Tinsley has been lauded by some residents for maintaining low tax increases over the last two years and seeking to foster development in the emerging 198-acre Town Center District business center near the Four Corners.

The concept of a central pedestrian-friendly business center, similar to downtown Ridgefield or Greenwood Avenue in Bethel, was first envisioned by former Democratic First Selectman Ken Keller, who left office in 1987.

Dunn said he is concerned that thus far the development in the Town District Center has been skewed too much toward housing at the expense of retail development.

“I think [it is] our zoning laws,” he said when asked why that has happened.

However, he said he is not sure that, if elected, that he would try to change those regulations.

He said developers see the housing as more profitable since retail business tenants can move within a short period of time, particularly if the economy is stagnant.

Dunn said he is hopeful that there will be more commercial development as the economy continues to improve.

“I don’t think that anyone wants to see co-op city at the Four Corners,” Dunn said regarding the possibility that there could be too many residential units on to floors above the retail establishments.

Dunn said, if elected, one of his priorities would be building a combined library/community center. Library officials have said since at least 1999 that the current facility, which opened in 1975, has inadequate space.

“There are only 38 parking spaces,” he said.

Dunn said that dance companies in Brookfield use New Milford High School for their performances because there isn’t a large enough community facility in town.

However, he said he would seek extensive public feedback on whether the new facility should be built at the municipal center parcel on Pocono Road or in the emerging 198-acre Town District Center near the Four Corners.

“I see advantages to both,” Dunn said, noting that there wouldn’t be any land acquisition costs at the municipal center, making the project less expensive, but by putting the facility in the Town District Center it could generate foot traffic to the local businesses.

He said the library has a $1 million grant, but that the project will be expensive.

Dunn praised Davidson for getting approval at referendum in April 2010 for a five year, $10 million bond appropriation to repair a number of town roads.

“It was an area that had been neglected and wasn’t getting addressed in the operating budget,” he said.

However, he said from now on he would prefer to do most of the road repairs through the operating budget to avoid having to bond for the appropriations.

About $1 million in repairs for the next fiscal year is in a $2,102.000 bond appropriation that was approved at referendum May 19.

“There was no reason to pay for road maintenance through bonding,” Lasser said. “There was enough money in reserve so that it could be done in the operating budget.”

On another fiscal issue, Dunn said the town’s fund balance should stay annually between 8 to 8.25 percent to ensure that it stays at least at 7 percent when large unanticipated expenses occur such as the recent overspending by the school district.

“The ratings agencies look at your ability to take hits,” he said.

Treasurer David Scribner, a Republican, encouraged municipal officials to maintain at least a 7 percent fund balance shortly after he was initially elected in 1995.

That policy helped upgrade the town’s bond rating three times by mid-1997, when it reached AA2. It went to AA1 in 2010 and then AAA, the highest level, in 2013 and has remained there.

On another topic, Dunn said that if he had his druthers he would leave the cornfield on Junction Road as open space, which is needed in Brookfield.

“I would prefer to pay more taxes than have a big box store on the corn field” even though it would expand the corporate tax base, he said. However, he added with the economy improving the parcel will probably be developed in the foreseeable future.

Some residents have been opposed to proposals by first Costco and then other developers to build operations on the 37-acre site which now features a youth soccer field that opened in 2006.

In particular, they have expressed concern about traffic safety in the neighborhood, which includes two churches and a child care facility within close proximity of the parcel.

However, Dunn noted that it is zoned for commercial uses. Former First Selectman Jerry Murphy estimated eight years ago that the property has a potential value of $15 million.

“You can’t stop people from developing, nor should you try if the regulations allow for commercial activity,” Dunn said.

Although this is Dunn’s first run for public office, he and his family have been active in several civic projects.

Most notably, he and his wife, Cassie, the former girls’ cross country and track & field coach at Brookfield High School (BHS), led the effort to raise $120,000 in nine months for the new all-weather track that was installed in 1997. The municipal government approved another $60,000 for the track, which was in such disrepair that BHS couldn’t hold a home meet.

The names of the donors appear on a large stone plaque on the hillside near the school’s outdoor stadium. Since 1997 Dunn and his family have sponsored the annual Mothers’ Day 5-kilometer race to raise money for maintenance of the track.

Dunn said he also devoted 20 years to Boy Scout activities and helped coach four Odyssey of the Mind state champions.

He said he agrees with Texas A&M presidential scholar George Edwards that instead of trying to persuade the public, chief elected officials should identify and exploit existing opportunities.

Davidson, for example, got the road bond program approved and appropriations to refurbish the Kids Kingdom playground on Pocono Road and Cadigan Park and the town beach on Candlewood Lake Road, as well as start construction of the Still River Greenway bicycle trail.

He and Tinsley had both highlighted those goals in their 2009 campaign platforms.

However, a charter revision proposal in 2012, from an ad-hoc commission appointed by Davidson and the other two selectmen, which proposed, among other things, the establishment of a town manager form of government was soundly defeated. Through the years, Brookfield voters have even been resistant to expanding the Board of Selectmen from the current three members to five members.

“If you try to do too many things at the same time, it doesn’t work,” Dunn said. “We saw that with [former Democratic President] Jimmy Carter.”