Town Officials To Be Sworn In November 25

By Steve Bigham

Herb Rosenthal will take the oath of office that will return him to the first selectman’s seat for a third term Sunday afternoon.

He will be one of about 30 elected officials to be sworn in at a ceremony in the lecture hall at Newtown High School. The event begins at 2 pm and the public is invited to attend.

Mr Rosenthal, a Democrat, defeated Democratic challenger Owen Carney, 3,225-2,469, at the municipal elections on November 6. He is the town’s 113th first selectman.

Also being sworn in are Board of Selectmen members Bill Brimmer and Joe Bojnowski, as well as six new members of the Legislative Council. They will join the six returning members, who were all re-elected to their seats earlier this month.

Also to be sworn in are members of the Planning & Zoning Commission, Board of Education, Board of Assessment Appeals, Zoning Board of Appeals, Police Commission, and Town Hall Board of Managers.

Mr Rosenthal is not expected to name people to the Board of Finance for at least another month. Those new members will be sworn in at that time.

Probate Judge Margot Hall will swear Town Clerk Cindy Simon in first. The town clerk will then preside over the ceremony, using her office’s 30-year-old red leather Holy Bible, which was purchased by former town clerk Mae Schmidle back in 1971. Mrs Schmidle estimates as many as 1,000 town officials and police have placed their hands on the Bible to be sworn in over the years. She purchased the shiny red Bible at a store in Hartford.

“It’s one of my most famous contributions to the town,” Mrs Schmidle said.

And it is no coincidence that the book is red; red is Mrs Schmidle’s trademark color.

Taking the Oath for a Third Term

Mr Rosenthal predicts his swearing in will be just as much of a thrill as it was four years ago when he took the oath for the first time.

“It’s always an honor to be elected by the voters in Newtown. It doesn’t make a difference how many times it happens. Anytime you’re doing something and people recognize the work you’ve done by reelecting you, it’s special,” he said. “This is a great responsibility to have. I’m certainly always mindful of the fact that I do have that responsibility. Each term there are different things.”

This year, Mr Rosenthal says Fairfield Hills will continue to be a big issue. In the coming weeks, however, his biggest challenge will be to appoint six members to the newly created Board of Finance.

Mr Rosenthal officially begins his third term in office December 1.