​Trying to win as ‘a team’

By Scott Benjamin

BROOKFIELD – Apparently Karl Hinger thinks that a cluttered vehicle is a sign of a strong mind.

His black Ford four-door has papers strewn through the back seat and a bunch of assorted items, including a tooth brush and a Knights of Columbus baseball cap.

This won’t receive the Good Housekeeping Seal Of Approval.

Most notably, though, there are campaign fliers with rubber bands around them.

One of the packets is for his campaign for the Republican nomination for first selectman and the other for his running mate, Alan Donnelly, who is seeking to secure one of the other two seats on the Board of Selectmen, and who is sitting in the front passenger seat.

On April 29 the Brookfield Republican Town Committee recommended their nominations for the party caucus.

Donnelly, 59, is chairman and Hinger, 30, is vice chairman of the Brookfield Zoning Board of Appeals.

Hinger said that, for now, they usually devote two hours a week to canvassing, usually on Saturday afternoons.

“We don’t want the voters fatigued,” Hinger said in an interview with Patch.com. “But we want to make our presence known.”

Donnelly said when he heard last winter that Hinger was interested in running for first selectman he spoke with his family and his longtime friend Harry Shaker about running to be an Other Selectman.

Shaker initially ran on Republican former First Selectman Jerry Murphy’s Republicans United For Brookfield challenge ticket in 2003 and captured a seat on the Board of Education. He was the GOP nominee for first selectman in 2017 and served as an Other Selectman from 2017-2023.

He lives on Long Meadow Hill Road, just a short jog from Brookfield High School, where the Republican caucus will be held on Wednesday night, July 16, at 7 o’clock. Hinger will compete against Austin Monteiro, who was a petitioning candidate for first selectman four years ago.

Both are graduates of Western Connecticut State University (WCSU) in Danbury.

There are high school graduates from metro-Danbury that go to high-profile colleges out of state, become homesick, transfer to WCSU and write on Discussion Boards: “I had thought that Western was just a bunch of dilapidated buildings targeted for students who live within a 25-mile radius of the campus.”

Yet, its alumni include former Danbury mayors Mark Boughton and Jim Dyer, state Sen. Christine Cohen of Guilford, state Reps. Patrick Callahan of New Fairfield and Corey Paris of Stamford and former state Reps. Paul Garavel and Marty Smith of Danbury.

Donnelly will be opposed by former First Selectman Tara Carr, who currently is an Other Selectman.

Monteiro also was the Republican candidate last year in the 110th state House District in Danbury, losing to longtime state Rep. Bob Godfrey, a Democrat. Monteiro ran unsuccessfully in 2023 for a seat on the Brookfield Board of Education and briefly served last year as vice chairman of the Brookfield Republican Town Committee. Carr was in the U,.S. Army for 25 years and has two masters' degrees.

Hinger, Donnelly and Republican Vacancy Committee Chairman Stephen Harding Sr., the father of state Senate Republican Leader Stephen Harding Jr. (R-30) of Brookfield, convened in Shaker’s driveway for the canvassing.

A generation ago, two factions of the Brookfield Republican Party clashed regularly. In 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2003 there were hard-fought primaries, yet the GOP still prevailed in the general election.

Times have changed. Since 2009, the Democrats, who are outnumbered by unaffiliated voters and Republicans, have annexed victories in six of the last eight municipal elections. The Democratic Party caucus will be held Wednesday night, July 16, at six o’clock in the party headquarters on Federal Road and it is expected that incumbent Democratic First Selectman will be nominated for a sixth consecutive time.

In 2021, the Republican Vacancy Committee recommended Carr for first selectman and Monteiro for Other Selectman. However, a short time later the Republican Town Committee recommended Shaker for Other Selectman and the GOP caucus nominated Shaker for that position.

Monteiro told Patch.com earlier this year that he and Carr, who captured the 2021 election with almost 52 percent of the ballots, have “spoken out” on major municipal issues more than anyone in the Republican Party and they could inspire more voters to turn out in the November 4 election.

The 2023 GOP caucus lasted three and a half hours and the results were not finalized until the next day because of a miscount of the ballots that required a formal recount.

Shaker, who was running for the nomination of Other Selectman on attorney Matt Grimes’ slate, said the ballots only included the candidates that had been recommended by the Republican Town Committee and not those from Grimes’ slate.

“I think this will be a much calmer caucus and a better organized caucus,” Shaker remarked.

Donnelly said there have been notable changes since the current Republican Town Committee was elected nearly 18 months ago.

Donnelly, who has been a small business owner for 35 years, praised Bobby Guarino, who became the Republican Town committee chairman in March of last year.

“They want us to be a team,” he said.

Harding Sr. has noted that candidates from both Carr’s slate and Grimes’ slate from two years ago have been recommended for nomination in 2025.

Donnelly said, for example, Liam Enea, a recent college graduate who is an alternate on the Zoning Board of Appeals, is “super-smart” and asks great questions at their meetings.

However, Enea, who ran on Grimes’ ticket two years ago in the primary, told Patch.com shortly after the 2023 general election that although the Republican candidates running for municipal offices were “nice and smart people” he felt shunned by them during the general election, even though he was on the ticket.

Now he is on running for a seat on the Zoning Board of Appeals on the Republican Town Committee’s recommended slate for the caucus.

Grimes has endorsed Hinger. Harding Jr. and state Rep. Marty Foncello (R-107) of Brookfield. attended his kick-off event on March 25.

The winner of the GOP caucus nomination for first selectman apparently will immediately wear the blanket of white and red carnations. Both Monteiro and Hinger have indicated they don’t plan on waging a September primary.

Hinger remarked, “While we’re campaigning, we’re not bad-mouthing anyone. Going forward after the caucus, I’m interested in working with Austin and Tara.”

Two years ago, Carr said even before the primary that she did not plan to seek help from Grimes and his allies if she captured the Republican nomination.

On primary night, Grimes declined to make a concession call to Carr, noting that she had said he was someone that she did not want “to associate with.”

While canvassing, resident James Cawley told Hinger and Donnelly, “Taxes are really high. My kids can’t afford to live in Brookfield.”

Hinger commented that he believes municipal spending can be lowered.

Resident Lorraine DiPaola said, “When Davidson was in, it was okay,” a reference to Bill Davidson, who served as first selectman from 2009 to 2013 and has been credited with, among other things, rebuilding the Kids Kingdom playground and revitalizing Cadigan Park and the town beach.

The current Board of Selectmen has ad-hoc committees studying the expansion of police facilities and the future of the former Center Elementary School, (CES) which closed two years ago.

DiPaola said maybe the current library on Whisconier Road, which opened in 1975, could be devoted just to books and the space for other activities could be placed at CES

Hinger said that could be a viable option.

He also said that if voters opt to build a new police headquarters at another site, the current police headquarters on Silvermine Road could be transformed into a community center.

Shaker said that eight years ago, both he and Dunn said at a debate that expanding police facilities would be their top capital priority. Yet Dunn, who served as first selectman from 2015-2021 and again from 2023-present hasn’t gotten a proposal to referendum.

Pointing to Hinger and Donnelly, he said, “They will take the initiative of making it the priority.”

However, Dunn and his running mate, Other Selectman Bob Belden, have each said the police facilities are the top priority after the ad-hoc committee reports on the police headquarters and the one on the future of CES are completed. Dunn has said that no action could be taken at least until 2026 when the bond payments are completed for the Brookfield High School renovation that voters approved at referendum in 2003.

Regarding the emerging 198-acre Brookfield Town Center central business district near the Four Corners intersection of Federal Road, DiPaola said it would be “nice if you could have a green like they have in New Milford.”

Cawley commented that Brookfield Town Center “is a good idea. But there is no place to park.”

With the rapid expansion of multi-family housing in Brookfield Town Center, municipal officials invoked a temporary moratorium for that central business district last year at least until the revised Plan of Conservation & Development is completed.

Hinger announced months ago that the moratorium should be expanded to all 19.8 square miles of Brookfield, since projects could be built on a street just outside Brookfield Town Center.

He has underscored that the town should maintain its rural feel.

However, Dunn and Monteiro have told Patch.com that such a step would be “illegal”:

Said Hinger, “If Austin and Steve want to say that. I don’t think either one of them have a legal background to determine that.”

Even with the increase in multi-family housing in Brookfield houses have had a marked increase in value. Reportedly some have doubled in price in a little more than a decade.

The late Richard Amorossi, a longtime municipal board member who was the Democratic nominee for first selectman in 2003, often said that if the increase value of a taxpayer’s home was greater than the increase in the municipal tax mill rate “then it was a good year” for that taxpayer.

Hinger, who is the inventory manager at Hamar Laser Instruments Inc. in Danbury, commented, “It can be a good thing. It may pay off long term [if you sell your house]. But if you’re home value is increasing your property tax is also increasing.”

On another topic, Cawley said, “The roads in Brookfield are beautiful.” He added that they much better than in neighboring towns.

Under Davidson, voters approved at referendum a 10-year, $2 million road improvement plan in 2010. Also, municipal officials continued to put funds in the municipal budget each spring for road repairs with a goal of eventually pay for all of it in cash instead of bond payments.

Said Shaker, “It is now all cash.”

When Hinger refers to the caucus, Cawley says that he is a Democrat.

“We’d like to have your support in November,” replied Hinger.

Hinger said their canvassing is “somewhat targeted” toward Republicans who can vote at the caucus. However, he added, “We’re already focused on November.”

Candidates running for state and federal offices lament that it is difficult to get voters engaged about a primary on the second Tuesday of August.

Will it be difficult to motivate voters to turn out on a weeknight in July – when they might rather sit in a chaise lounge watching reruns of “The Dukes Of Hazzard”?

Remarked Hinger, “It always is a challenge. It is a big-time commitment to get people to sit there for a couple of hours. At the caucus you don’t get the voters that are more apathetic.”

“We’re not overly concerned about the caucus.,” he added. “We think we’ll get a good turnout.”

There were 298 in attendance two years ago when Carr’s and Grimes’s slates vied for the nominations. This time the only competition will be for first selectman and Other Selectman.

Monteiro announced via his Facebook page on June 11 that he and Carr would self-fund their campaigns at least until they secure the Republican nomination.

“We don’t want to ask for your dollars,” he said in a video.

Hinger has been raising money since this last winter.

“We’re going up against an incumbent who has been there almost a decade,” he explained. “You have to start early. You have to raise funds.”

If someone contributes to a campaign does it become more likely that they will become a street captain and distribute "Karl For Brookfield" lawn signs to their neighbors?

“Campaigns are a team effort,” Hinger commented. “When people have that skin in the game, they feel their more a part of the team.”

What is the distribution of Red Sox, Met and Yankee fans in Brookfield?

Tom Balash, the owner of Remember When sports cards on Federal Road, has said that about 25 years ago if 20 customers came in, it was usually 17 Yankees fans, two Red Sox and one Met. However, he said after 2004 when the Red Sox won the first of the four recent world championships, the Red Sox ratio increased.

Have the voting patterns changed more recently?

Shaker, a Yankees fan who has probably coached more youth teams than anyone in Brookfield, commented, “I would say now the Mets are very close to the Yankees.”

The Mets have become a World Series contender under owner Steve Cohen, the richest man in Connecticut, whose hedge fund is in Stamford – just a hop, skip and a jump from Brookfield.

So if the Mets population in Brookfield is growing and Hinger wants to win the caucus nomination, then when he is canvassing neighborhoods, shouldn’t he be wearing the Mets T-shirt that reads, “Ya Gotta Believe In Uncle Steve"?

Additional Data: As of June 17, the Brookfield registrars of voters report that there are 5,036 unaffiliated voters, 3,794 registered Republicans, 3,058 Democrats and 212 who belong to other parties.

Note: Patch.com has sought to make arrangements to cover Austin Monteiro at a public event or canvassing prior to the July 16 caucus. Patch.com contacted him via e-mail on May 22 and he indicated that June 7 would be the date to do it. Patch.com spoke briefly with Monteiro prior to the June 2 Brookfield Board of Selectmen’s meeting and he said that the arrangements would be going forward and he would provide details for June 7.

Patch.com sent an e-mail message to Monteiro on June 6 to obtain details for the June 7 coverage. Patch.com then placed multiple voice-mail messages and e-mail messages to Monteiro through the next two days and apparently did not receive a response to any of them.

Resources:

Interview with Karl Hinger, Alan Donnelly and Harry Shaker, Patch.com, on Saturday, June 14, 2025.

Interview with Karl Hinger, Patch.com, on Wednesday, June 18, 2025.

Canvassing coverage on Long Meadow Hill Road, Patch.com, on Saturday, June 14, 2025.

https://patch.com/connecticut/brookfield/young-wise

https://patch.com/connecticut/brookfield/monteiro-explores-multiple-political-opportunities

E-mail message from Leslie Ruggiero, Brookfield Democratic Registrar of Voters.

https://patch.com/connecticut/brookfield/carr-bests-grimes-easily-garner-republican-primary-nomination

https://patch.com/connecticut/...