Shaker Wants To Halt Affordable Housing

By Scott Benjamin

BROOKFIELD -- Harry Shaker, the Republican nominee for first selectman, says he and other residents are encouraged about the pedestrian-friendly streetscape and adjacent housing that is emerging in the 198-acre Town Center of Brookfield near the Four Corners intersection of Federal Road.

However, he said many residents are also adamantly opposed to additional affordable housing in that central business district or elsewhere in town.

The candidate said in an interview that it has been the most discussed issue in recent weeks as he has embarked on a door-to-door tour that he hopes will reach 2,000 homes across Brookfield.

“People want to maintain the character of Brookfield,” said Shaker, who has served on the Board of Education in 13 of the last 14 years and has had contact with about 3,000 local youths through being a coach and referee in the 37 years that he’s live in town.

“More affordable housing could impact the property values in Brookfield,” he added.

Gov. Dannel Malloy (D-Stamford) has been praised by Middletown Mayor Dan Drew, a New Milford High School graduate, for his efforts to increase the affordable housing stock in the state. Drew is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor and is running on a progressive platform.

The governor vetoed legislation earlier this year would make more kinds of housing eligible to meet the 10 percent quota for affordable housing under the state act.

In June, the General Assembly overrode Malloy’s veto.

Democratic First Selectman Steve Dunn, who is seeking a second term this fall, and state Rep. Steve Harding (R-107) of Brookfield have joined forces to try to alter the 1989 state Affordable Housing Appeals Act, which provides an avenue for developers to circumvent municipal zoning regulations if it doesn’t meet a minimum standard of having 10 percent affordable housing.

Shaker said he also objects to the state legislation.

State Sen. Gayle Slossberg (D-Milford) has said that none of the mid-size Connecticut cities have met the 10 percent standard in the nearly 30 years since the Act was established.

Some developers and land-use attorneys have said Connecticut is, in general, more resistant to development than some other states since there is a commitment by municipalities to maintain their revolutionary ambiance.

Malloy has said that in some communities police officers and teachers on moderate incomes can’t find housing within a reasonable commute.

“Not to my knowledge,” said Shaker when asked if people in those professions have trouble finding appropriately priced housing in Brookfield.

“I talk frequently to the teachers in the schools and I haven’t heard about there not being housing in Brookfield that they could afford,” the candidate added.

Shaker said the Town Center of Brookfield project, which was first conceived nearly 30 years ago by former First Selectman Ken Keller, who was then the chairman of the Economic Development Commission, will boost commercial revenue in Brookfield and could attract young families to town at the time when some of them are fleeing Connecticut.

The Nutmeg State is the only one in New England that has not recovered all of the jobs lost in the 2008 recession. Its pensions are only 35.5 percent funded – well below the 80 percent mark that is considered stellar.

However, Shaker is critical of the town spending $281,000 on a study that concluded that it would cost too much to place the utilities in the Town Center of Brookfield underground to make the streetscape more attractive.

Municipal officials opted not to pursue that option since the money could, for example, be better utilized for capital projects.

“It was wasted money,” Shaker said of the study.

The Republican nominee said he agrees with Dunn that the town should establish a public parking lot with at least 100 spaces near the Four Corners to accommodate the potential growth of retail customers in the Town Center of Brookfield.

He said Brookfield’s top capital priority will be renovations to Huckleberry Hill Elementary School (HHES), which opened in 1965.

Shaker said he agrees with former Superintendent of Schools John Goetz, who said shortly before retiring in 2007 that the fifth grade students should be placed at HHES, which would be more appropriate than having them in a middle school.

The candidate acknowledged that if the fifth grade is shifted to HHES there might be excess space at Whisconier Middle School, which underwent renovations that were completed in 2001 so it could accommodate more than 1,000 students.

Shaker also said, as had been the case with other school renovation projects in Brookfield over the last generation, a considerable amount of the spending will probably be applied to making the building conform to current building codes

He said he doesn’t believe that residents have determined what the next highest capital priority will be – expansion of the 29-year-old police headquarters on Silvermine Road or a new library to replace the 42-year-old facility on Whisconier Road.

He said that he will discuss the proposed expansion of the police headquarters later this month with Chief Jay Purcell, who has been with the department since 1983.

Shaker acknowledged that the library project has been discussed for 18 years and was part of the charge for an ad-hoc capital projects committee that recommended in 2005 that, for the time being, the trustees seek interim improvements because of the large bond costs that were associated at the time with the Brookfield High School (BHS) renovation project.

The candidate said a new library would likely have to receive considerable private funding, as was the case with the recent project in Ridgefield.

Shaker noted that the library might be built on the horse athletic field of the municipal parcel on Pocono Road and an expanded police headquarters might occupy another athletic field at the other end of that parcel.

The Republican nominee said he doesn’t want to lose either field. An ad-hoc committee is studying how to build more fields, if they’re needed.

Brookfield sports groups have expressed concern about an inadequate number of fields for at least 20 years.

Regarding the school district, Shaker praised Superintendent John Barile and Assistant Superintendent Maureen Ruby, who both took over in 2015, but said he believes they’re still seeking to overcome obstacles that carried over from the previous administration, which misappropriated money.

Shaker, who has served under three superintendents while on the Board of Education, said the school district is better today than when he was initially elected to the school board 14 years ago.

In particular, he said Brookfield High School has improved from using block scheduling, which has allowed teachers to present more detailed lessons, which has been a huge asset for science labs and physical education classes.

Shaker said he has been on the Board of Education’s negotiations committee for 12 years and has learned valuable lessons in establishing new contracts with each of the five collective bargaining units.

“In working with our legal counsel and other board members, I’ve learned how you have to be able to bridge extreme differences and reach agreements with people that you’re going to be working with the next day,” he explained.

On fiscal issues, Shaker said, like Dunn, he supports trying to maintain a fund balance of at least 10 percent to make an attempt to have an AAA bond rating. Dunn said in June it was at 8 percent and he was hopeful it could reach 10 percent within two years.

Dunn has said the rating agencies want municipalities to have surplus money available to fund emergencies.

Shaker said it would be more difficult to achieve that if there are reductions in state aid and the municipalities have to absorb some of the teacher pension costs.

Brookfield achieved an AAA bond rating from Fitch in October 2013. However that has been downgraded. Dunn has said he learned from the town comptroller on his initial day as first selectman that there was a $3.3 million budget gap from bonds that were never sold.

Shaker said there will have to be a discussion about the revised budget needs if the state places a larger tax burden on municipalities.

He said he had considered seeking the Republican nomination for first selectman in 2013 and 2015 but that he wasn’t at a point where he could take time away from his painting business. Shaker said he already has held two campaign fund-raisers with a third set for later this month and that the local GOP was about to open a headquarters for the November 7 election.

Shaker said he agrees with Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, that digital communications has become the broadcast network of the 21^st century.

The Republican nominee said he is trying to build upon his contacts in local politics and his youth coaching to generate more interest in his campaign through digital communications.