Two GOP Candidates Announce––

The Political Season Gets Started

By Dottie Evans

Owen Carney, chairman of the Newtown Republican Town Committee, has announced he will again seek his party’s backing for the position of first selectman in local elections this fall.

William Sheluck, chairman of the last Charter Revision Commission, has also informed the town committee he is interested in Newtown’s top spot.

In a statement made earlier this week, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal, a Democrat who is nearing the end of his third two-year term, said he was not ready at this time to declare his candidacy.

“I will be talking to my family over the coming weeks about the possibility of running again. I have enjoyed serving the town and feel it is likely that I will want to continue,” Mr Rosenthal said.

In letters to Candidates Committee Chairman Barbara O’Connor, incumbent Cynthia Curtiss Simon indicated she would like very much to continue as town clerk and Bill Brimmer stated he would like to continue on the Board of Selectmen.

Mrs O’Connor reminds all Republicans interested in being on the party’s slate of candidates this year that the July nominating caucus is not far away.

Interested residents and incumbents, as well, are urged to contact her in writing. They may also contact Chairman Carney or any member of the Newtown Republican Town Committee. The Candidates Committee will be setting up dates and times for interviews.

A Second Try For Carney

Owen Carney grew up in Bridgeport and has lived in Newtown since 1972. He moved here when he was hired to serve on the town’s police department. He retired from that job in February 1999.

In 2001, he was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for first selectman running against Herb Rosenthal. Until April of that year, he had served on the Charter Revision Committee but later removed himself from that group.

“I had to give that up when it appeared there could be a conflict of interest in deciding matters pertaining to the first selectman’s job, a position that I would be running for.”

His wife, Sue Carney, works in the tax collector’s office. The Carneys live on Berkshire Road and they have two children, one in the sixth grade at St Rose School and one in the fifth grade at Reed Intermediate School. Mr Carney now works for the Town of Bethel Police Department.

“I discovered I was too young to just sit around, especially when everyone I knew was working.”

He is in favor of limiting the town’s commercial development to already designated areas zoned for that purpose and said he thought development at Fairfield Hills would “cause a logjam due to all the traffic at the center of town.”

Mr Carney is also concerned with controlling the town budget and pursuing open space initiatives.

“Buying up large chunks of land before they can be developed will make a difference,” he said.

Regarding his personal style of management, Mr Carney said, “Listening is the first step.

“Listen to what the people want. The first selectman has to be a facilitator and in the town of Newtown he’s going to have 25,000 bosses.”

Sheluck Ventures Into Politics

William “Bill” Sheluck is a relative newcomer to the local political scene. He announced Tuesday that he hoped to win his party’s nomination as Republican candidate for first selectmen.

A retired bank CEO, Mr Sheluck is the father of three young daughters who attend Head O’ Meadow School. The family lives on Greenleaf Farms Road. The Shelucks are active in their daughters’ school as volunteers and they are parishioners of St Rose of Lima Church.

Mr Sheluck and his wife Amy moved to Newtown seven years ago from New York City. The reason they chose Newtown was, as he stated in his press release, “after an extensive search, this seemed an ideal town to bring up children and permanently reside.”

He was chairman of the most recent Newtown Charter Revision Commission, whose members in 2001 successfully petitioned for creation of a Board of Finance. Mr Sheluck is an alternate member of the Republican Town Committee.

As first selectman, he believes he could do an effective job “bringing newer residents, longtime Newtowners, the young, and the not-so-young together to create a community that is even better than it is now.”

He is interested in finding long-term solutions to problems generated by the rapid rate of growth in town, and he promises “commitment and focus” toward that effort.

Mr Sheluck plans to elaborate on his ideas during the coming weeks, especially as town leaders and residents continue to discuss the issue of purchasing the Fairfield Hills tract from the state and deciding on future uses for the property as outlined in the Master Plan Executive Summary, still to be approved by the voters.