One of the first items of business as newly elected or reelected Legislative Council and Board of Finance members met for the first time earlier this month was the election of chair and vice chair leadership.

First Selectman Dan Rosenthal acted as the temporary Board of Finance chairman on December 9, facilitating the election of former Republican finance vice chair Sandy Roussas to the position of chair.

Upon the first selectman calling for nominations, Keith Alexander, a second term Democrat, quickly nominated Ms Roussas to chair the board for a one-year term ending on November 30, 2020. That motion was seconded by newly elected Democrat Chris Gardner.

Hearing no other nominations, Mr Rosenthal closed the matter calling for a vote, upon which Ms Roussas was unanimously seated as chair.

Mr Rosenthal then requested nominations for vice chair, and newly elected Republican Matthew Mihalcik nominated Mr Alexander, who came onto the finance board after serving as chairman of the local Board of Education.

Hearing no further nominations, Mr Alexander was unanimously voted vice chair.

“Thank you for stepping up to serve,” Ms Roussas said to her fellow board members. “I look forward to a very productive and collegial session with you.”

Ms Roussas then shared communications, including a notice of a pre-budget meeting planned for Wednesday, December 18, with the council, and members of the Boards of Finance, Education, and Selectmen invited to participate.

“It’s a meeting where we discuss fiscal health and things we anticipate coming down the pike prior to budget deliberations,” she related.

Ms Roussas then shared some information compiled by incumbent board member Ned Simpson, including some State Freedom of Information guidelines. Mr Alexander also said he would like to schedule a session on FOI information in March.

Mr Rosenthal said he would prefer to make such a session a public activity inviting any elected and appointed officials from Newtown and elsewhere to attend, along with residents.

Lundquist Returned To Chair

Five days earlier a slightly longer process played out with members of the Legislative Council who reelected former Democratic Chairman Paul Lundquist to lead the panel.

The first council meeting of the new term was initially led by Town Clerk Debbie Halstead, who called for nominations for the chair. Hearing no other nominations than the one from Democrat Judit DeStefano to reelect Mr Lundquist, he was immediately seated.

Ms Halstead turned the meeting over to Mr Lundquist who thanked his colleagues who unanimously seated him for a second term as chair.

“I really do appreciate your vote of confidence here,” Mr Lundquist said, in turn welcoming the three newly elected members, Republicans Cathy Reiss and Andy Clure, and Democrat Alison Plante to the chambers.

Mr Lundquist then called for nominations for vice chair, and in a change of direction from last term, members voted to seat Ms DeStefano instead of splitting leadership roles between a Democrat and Republican.

To that end, Democratic council member Jordana Bloom then nominated Ms DeStefano for the vice chair post with Democratic Councilman Christopher Eide seconding, before GOP Councilman Phil Carroll moved to nominate former Republican Vice Chair Dan Wiedemann with Mr Clure seconding.

In support of his Democratic colleague, Mr Eide said after serving four years, he felt it was important for more experienced and long-tenured members to make a place to groom younger and less experienced members for leadership roles.

“I know that some of us that have been here — I think some are going on ten years at the end of this term — probably won’t be here much longer,” Mr Eide said. “So it is important that we continue to cycle people through these leadership positions.”

Mr Carroll said he felt the last council session went well with split party leadership.

“You worked well together,” Mr Carroll said. “That’s why I’m in favor of keeping it the same way this time.”

Democratic Councilman Chris Smith said he appreciated “having diversity” across the leadership roles.

“To me it has been insightful having Dan in one of the leadership roles of this council,” he said, adding that the panel should, however, seek to bring new people into leadership positions.

Mr Lundquist said he appreciated Mr Wiedemann’s work and support during the prior term, and that he fully appreciated the symbolism of splitting party leadership.

“It’s something I feel pretty strongly about on a personal level,” Mr Lundquist said. “At the same time, I do also recognize Judy is very capable and a rising leader. This is a good position for her... I appreciate a new surge of interest.”

Mr Carroll’s motion was then defeated 7-5 along party lines, with a subsequent call for votes on Ms DeStefano’s nomination passing along similar party lines 7-5.

Reflecting on the two leadership actions in a brief interview December 10, Mr Rosenthal recognized that Ms Roussas has the longest elected tenure on the finance board, and was the ideal candidate for the chair.

“The same can be said for Keith [Alexander],” the first selectman said, adding “I like the Democrat/Republican split. It keeps up a tradition of shared leadership roles.”

Mr Rosenthal said Mr Lundquist had previously done a “great job” leading the council.

“I’m anticipating the opportunity to work with him again,” Mr Rosenthal said. Regarding Ms DeStefano, he added, “Judy is certainly a capable leader, and it is no reflection on her, but my regret is [not seeing] a leadership split between opposing parties.”

Reiterating his confidence that Ms DeStefano would do a good job as vice chair, the first selectman said he simply “liked the message a two party split sends,” adding that such a split conveys, “a spirit of cooperation.”