Rosenthal Still Considering Open Selectman’s Seat

By John Voket

While recounts will determine the final outcomes in several underticket races, the decision about who will take the final open seat on the Board of Selectmen may not be made for several days. Based on the town’s system for seating officials on that top elected board, considering the charter mandated minority representation, that position can be filled by the first remaining candidate who is willing to accept it.

Currently, outgoing First Selectman Herb Rosenthal is the top qualifying vote-getter. But in the hours following the five-term incumbent’s defeat, he was reticent to say whether or not he would accept the open board seat.

“I’m going to take a few days to think it over,” he said, adding that if he accepted the two-year position, he would be doing it for the good of the community.

“After all, it was the voters who gave me the opportunity,” Mr Rosenthal said.

In the event Mr Rosenthal declines the selectman’s position, the next right of refusal goes to Democrat Joseph Bojnowski. The selectman was engaged in a series of business meetings, and was unable to reply to calls for comment in the hours before The Newtown Bee went to press November 8.

If Mr Bojnowski is unwilling or unable to fulfill another term as a minority selectman, petitioning unaffiliated candidate Louis Jay Mattegat would be offered the seat, and if he declined, the next qualifier would be petitioner Christian Qualey, Jr.