'Arrogance Is Not Experience': Hinger On Proposed Brookfield Fire/EMS Commission Ordinance

**News Release Submitted by Hinger/Donnelly Campaign**

Aug. 5, 2025

Arrogance is not “Experience”

The proposed Fire/EMS Commission ordinance introduced by Selectman Bob Belden was presented as a consensus plan. We were told it had “unanimous support.” But on August 4th, that illusion shattered.

In crowded Room 133 at Brookfield Town Hall, not only did members of both volunteer fire companies speak out against the ordinance, but both Fire Chiefs directly opposed it as written, instead requesting a 90 day pause and rewrite, citing the exact concerns our campaign raised: added fiscal bureaucracy, government overreach, reduced transparency, and a failure to meet the actual needs of our fire and EMS services.

In response, the Board of Selectmen tabled the matter indefinitely, effectively punting the issue until after the election.

It was an embarrassing moment for the Dunn/Belden team, who have claimed throughout this campaign that their experience sets them apart. But what kind of experience leads you to push forward a major ordinance without working with the departments it affects? What kind of leadership writes laws about public safety without listening to the professionals who keep us safe?

The answer is clear: arrogant, out of touch leadership that has grown too comfortable after years in power.

Brookfield deserves better than faulty, poorly drafted ordinances that handicap our emergency services. Our volunteers deserve better than red tape, bureaucracy, and government overreach. And taxpayers deserve better than a government that only listens after they’ve been publicly criticized and corrected.

If elected, we will scrap this broken ordinance proposal. We will meet the needs of our fire and EMS departments the first time, because we will listen the first time. Leadership isn’t about having the most years in office. It’s about having the humility to listen and the judgment to act.

Karl Hinger
Republican Candidate for First Selectman

Alan Donnelly
Republican Candidate for Selectman