Rosenthal Sworn In

For A Fourth Term

By Larissa Lytwyn

Inaugurated for a fourth term November 30, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal thanked “the people who volunteer in countless ways to make Newtown a better place.” He cited the recently formed Board of Finance as an example.

“The conflicting, vague, and overlapping responsibilities of the Board of Finance and Legislative Council in the financial and budget process that resulted from the 2001 Charter Revision could have been a recipe for gridlock and disaster,” Mr Rosenthal said. However, he noted, members of both boards “cooperated” to make the system work.

“That said,” he continued, “we need another charter revision to streamline the process.”

The first selectman reflected on the near-complete purchase of the Fairfield Hills property, saying he looked forward to “finalizing the master plan.”

He also said the town would continue to support quality education, recreational activities, road building and infrastructure maintenance, public health and safety improvements, as well as environmental protection.

He acknowledged the difficulty of maintaining these needs in the face of property tax increases, reflecting on the complex “unholy trinity” of development, education, and taxes.

“The situation is exacerbated by the Connecticut tax structure, which forces towns like Newtown to fund municipal services primarily by property taxes,” he explained. Future commercial development, then, had to be “very selective” to “fit the character of Newtown.”

While having worked for two decades to provide quality education, Mr Rosenthal advised that the town “strike a reasonable balance between expenditures for education and tax increases in tough economic times.”

At times, he said, the selectmen’s budget must be “squeezed hard to provide room for education spending.”

At other times, “If economic conditions require it, the education budget must be squeezed as well.”

Although voters did not choose change this year, he said, “they still expect us to do more than maintain the status quo.” Immediate goals cited were “acquiring and preserving open space and promoting reasonable and compatible economic development.”

He thanked Selectmen Joe Bojnowski and Bill Brimmer for a continued “successful relationship,” as well as thanking the Board of Finance, Legislative Council, administrative staff, and his family for their support.

Other officials sworn in included members of the Board of Finance, Legislative Council, Planning and Zoning Commission, Board of Appeals, and Police Commissioners.

In addition, Paul Mangiafico, Andrew Buzzi, and David Nanavaty were sworn in for their first full terms on the school board.

On December 2, Democratic Town Committee-endorsed candidate Thomas Gissen, executive vice president of Ginsberg Development, LLC, a high-end cluster housing development firm, was sworn in to replace school board member Margaret Hull.

“We are back to a six-member board,” remarked longstanding school board member Lisa Schwartz. “[Chairman] Elaine McClure and myself are the most senior members now!”

Ms Schwartz said she was looking forward to working with the new board members. “During our evaluation of Mr Gissen on December 1, I was able to gather an understanding of how Mr Mangiafico and Mr Nanavaty think,” she said.

Ms Schwartz believes that Mr Gissen’s management background will provide “expertise” to the board’s future deliberations on a variety of construction-related projects, including the possibility of building a new high school as well as the continued maintenance of the recently built Reed Intermediate School.

“I’m looking forward to working with everyone,” she said.