In the final meeting of their term, First Selectman Dan Rosenthal and selectmen Maureen Crick Owen and Ed Schierloh expressed gratitude for their time on the Board of Selectmen and offered thanks to each other, family and staff.

The November 20 meeting was the trio’s final meeting together, with their terms ending on November 30. All three chose not to run again, and their seats will be taken by incoming First Selectman Jeff Capeci, a Republican, and Selectmen Dan Cruson and Michelle Embree Ku, both Democrats, on December 1.

The look back on their time began when Capeci spoke during public participation, thanking the three for their service.

“I worked with Dan and Maureen for two terms,” Capeci said, referencing his time on the BOS during Rosenthal and Crick’s first two terms.

“Ed replaced me, I hope for the better,” Capeci joked, then added, “I hope Dan enjoys his retirement until he goes and gets a real job again.”

Rosenthal will be joining Newtown Savings Bank as first vice president, community and government relations officer in early January 2024, and will be responsible for developing, implementing, and overseeing strategies to establish, expand, and maintain relationships with key community organizations, government entities, and industry associations.

Rosenthal expressed that he enjoyed serving with Crick Owen, Capeci and Schierloh, and that his time as first selectman had “certainly been an adventure.”

“I appreciate the last six years, and it went by in a flash,” he said. “It’s been great. I have a lot of things to reflect fondly on. Even the low points weren’t that low. Any disagreements along the way have kind of faded away.”

Rosenthal said he “worked with a lot of great people,” Crick Owen and Schierloh among them. He gave Crick Owen a bouquet of flowers and Schierloh a bottle of wine in thanks for their shared service.

He said he had been worried when Capeci left the board to go chair the Legislative Council two years ago, but Schierloh had been a “great addition.”

“There was never any partisanship, just shared love for the town,” said Rosenthal. “There will be many things that I miss. Maybe I won’t miss the meeting schedule, but I’ll definitely miss the company I kept.”

He thanks Crick Owen for “six years of being my good friend.” He noted Crick Owen spent time reading minutes from all the other meetings, including smaller commissions such as the Lake Zoar Authority and the Pension Committee, and always “did the deep dive.”

“I never took her for granted, and she always made sure our decisions were the right ones,” said Rosenthal. “Acquiescing to avoid conflict is not the best way. The best way is asking all the tough questions.”

Crick Owen said she always wanted to be on the board and she was glad she had done so with Rosenthal.

“It was an honor to serve the town,” said Crick Owen. “It has a special place for me.”

Crick Owen also noted that working with Schierloh was an opportunity to reunite with him, as they went to high school together.

Schierloh noted that as a Republican working with an independent — a former Democrat, Rosenthal changed his affiliation to the Serve America Movement (SAM) Party ahead of his re-election two years ago — and a Democrat (Crick Owen), the three “always put the town first” and “did a good job.”

“I appreciate Dan’s leadership; he made our job easy,” said Schierloh. “And it was great to reconnect with Maureen after all these years.”

Schierloh said he’ll always think of Crick Owen’s comment that he was the “tightest selectman ever” with honor.

Rosenthal thanked his family, who he said had put up with a lot with him serving as first selectman over the years, including quick dinners before meetings and less time at home, but he never received any pushback from them. He said if he had decided to run again, they would have all told him to do it, but a “polygraph test would have revealed the real answer.”

Rosenthal said that his time on the board had been “great.”

“My door prize is still getting to live here [in Newtown],” said Rosenthal.

Union Contract

In other selectmen news, one of the current board’s last official items of business was approval of the union contract that covers most employees within the municipal center.

According to Rosenthal, the contract covers all union staff in the municipal center, the administrative staff at the Department of Public Works, Public Works supervisors Tim Whelan and Anthony Capozziello, and Parks & Recreation supervisor John Moore, as well as administrative staff at Parks and Rec.

(The department heads, other supervisory staff, and executive assistant to the first selectman are non union and not part of this contract.)

The town hall employees will receive a 2.75 percent increase in the first year of their contract, 2.93 percent in year two, and 2.99 percent in year three. Additionally, the employees will now have steps in their contract, which will give additional salary increases depending on how many years the employee has served.

“From a wage standpoint, it’s inflationary,” said Rosenthal.

Since the contract was approved partway through the contract year, the employees will be getting back pay retroactively to July 1, and the selectmen approved transfers totaling $5,960 to cover that.

The employee contribution for insurance will stay at 15 percent for the first two years and increase to 17 percent in year three.

Rosenthal said that there were some other “small changes,” but “from a monetary standpoint, that’s where we finished.”

He also said that he didn’t want to “punt” the contract to the next administration, since the contract started during his tenure.

Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.