Belden: Bipartisanship in Brookfield; friction in Washington

By Scott Benjamin

BROOKFIELD – Red signs in a blue building!

It is like entering The Joker’s lair and seeing a shelf with each issue of the “Batman And Robin Vs. The Quiet Man” comic books.

Actually, the red “Republicans For Dunn/Belden” lawn signs sitting in the Brookfield Democratic Town Committee headquarters are nothing new. The party posted similar placards two years ago when they recaptured town hall.

The back page of the Democrat campaign brochures on the table encourages voters to re-elect First Selectman Steve Dunn and Other Selectman Bob Belden for “Bipartisan, Professional Leadership.”

During the 2023 campaign they billed themselves as experienced managers. Dunn had been a vice president at J.P. Morgan Chase before retiring and then winning the first selectman’s seat in 2015. He is now seeking his fifth non-consecutive term in that office.

Belden was a vice president at IBM. A former Republican, he annexed a seat on the Board of Finance in 2003 on First Selectman Jerry Murphy’s GOP ticket, served as chairman of that panel and then became chairman of the Board of Education.

The Republicans have nominated Zoning Board of Appeals Vice Chairman Karl Hinger for first selectman and Zoning Board of Appeals Chairman Alan Donnelly for Other Selectman in the November 4 municipal election.

Frustrated with a polarized two-party system in Washington, Belden decided after the 2020 presidential election to change his registration from Republican to unaffiliated.

“They wouldn’t compromise on anything,” he now says in an interview with Patch.com. For example, when there was a viable solution for immigration reform “the party system took it over” and stifled it.

What finally pushed him “over the edge” were the “aggressive” Republican claims that the 2020 election had been “stolen” from President Donald Trump after he sought a consecutive second term.

Belden said that the national two-party friction has grown worse.

He said he is “very upset” over Trump’s efforts to “stifle freedom of speech in the print and electronic media.”

Belden also declared that he also objects to, “using the government to go after political enemies. It is go-get them without having a case.”

He said in Brookfield you can reach across the political aisle and get proposals approved.

Dunn said one of Belden’s most valuable traits is his willingness to tell him when he thinks he’s wrong.

Commented Dunn, “When that happens we discuss it, and 99 percent of the time we come to an agreement on how to proceed.”

As winter was about to turn to spring, Belden was pounding the table to get Dunn to promptly announce their plans to seek another term.

Some supporters had reservations about Dunn not formally announcing his plans until the tenth hour in 2021 when he eventually lost his bid for a fourth consecutive term to Republican Tara Carr.

Within weeks it appeared that Carr’s military credentials and pledge to slow development in the 198-acre Brookfield Town Center district, near the Four Corners on Federal Road, triumphed over Dunn’s leadership through the 2018 Marcoburst and the 2020 Pandemic.

“Bob was insistent that we should launch our campaign in late March,” Dunn said regarding the 2025 election. “That was much sooner than I had ever considered it. However, Bob said we should let people know right now that we’re running again and he convinced me to do that.”

In the six elections between 1997 and 2007, four times the Brookfield Democrats didn’t even nominate a candidate for first selectman.

Between 2009 – when Bill Davidson, a former Republican who, like Belden, changed his registration to unaffiliated, was elected first selectman - and 2023, the Democrats have garnered the town’s top elected position in six of those eight campaigns. Perhaps the most remarkable ascent this side of Trey Yesavage going in six months from single-A Dunedin to being the Blue Jays’ hero in the ALDS.

Dunn said recently that canvassing neighborhoods is still a priority, but fewer voters answer their doors and social media has grown in importance.

Belden said that is the case, but he has knocked on doors at a raft of homes this campaign and found voters “are appreciative” that a candidate visited.

“I’ve had great conversations with people,” and have even discussed “topics, I didn’t know about,” he explained.

How has Brookfield changed since Belden and his family arrived in 1988?

Belden, who grew up in Wilton, said one thing that has remained consistent is that then, as now, it is difficult to afford a home in town.

“Housing prices were at an all-time high in 1988,” he commented. “I had to stretch way beyond my means to afford the house that we wanted.”

What also has remained the same is that, “There were, and still are, these beautiful two-acre houses out in the countryside, but you are a 10-minute drive to get to Federal Road and can do your shopping,” Belden remarked.

However, Federal Road, particularly the northern corridor near the Four Corners intersection is no longer congested with an estimated 30,000 vehicle trips per day. That traffic, much of which was from people commuting through Brookfield, has been diverted to the 2.1-mile Route 7 bypass which opened in November 2009.

“People who are new here don’t know what Federal Road used to look like,” remarked Belden. “At 4 o’clock in the afternoon, there was traffic from the Four Corners of Federal Road to New Milford. “Now there is not a traffic problem at Four Corners.”

Belden said earlier this year in an interview with Patch.com that the multi-family housing in Brookfield Town Center has grown too much too fast.

However, in the more recent interview he said, “Most of what is being built was approved a long time ago” before Dunn’s initial tenure as first selectman, which began in 2015.

He said the recent multi-family housing moratoriums in that district have “slowed the new applications down.”

Among the features in Brookfield Town Center is the Still River Greenway, which opened in 2016 and attracts walkers, runners and bicyclists in a town that doesn’t have a lot of sidewalks.

According to the most recent report from the University of Connecticut Trail Census Program, the Still River Greenway has the third highest number of visitors among the 23 trails in Connecticut.

Remarked Belden, “It feels like it has been here forever. It is one of the gems of the town.”

Belden is chairman of the ad-hoc committee that is trying to establish a municipal Fire Department/Emergency Medical Services Ordinance/Commission.

That ad-hoc panel was created following a consultant’s report, funded with federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, that recommended creating the ordinance/commission.

Dunn praised Belden for his interaction since early last year with the chiefs of the Headquarters and Candlewood Fire Companies, the chief of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) corps and the police chief.

Belden said that during the deliberations they spent “six months” going over the report “chapter by chapter.”

He gave a presentation at the July Board of Selectmen’s meeting. The board was scheduled to vote on approving the ordinance at the August meeting, which attracted a huge number of fire and EMS personnel. Some of their leaders requested more time to study the provisions, which include the establishment of a five-member commission.

The selectmen tabled action.

During public comment, Hinger said that, if elected, he would promptly abolish the commission if it were to be enacted by the current Board of Selectmen. He said it would, among other things, create an additional layer of bureaucracy.

Donnelly said in an August interview with Patch.com that he didn’t think that Belden spoke to enough people in the fire and EMS departments before making his presentation in July.

Dunn said he disputed that, indicating that Belden was thorough throughout the deliberations.

None of the emergency response leaders who spoke during public comment at the August selectmen’s meeting said that they were against the ordinance. They said they needed more time to present it to their members.

Dunn said that since the August 4 meeting of the selectmen, “a number” of members of the fire companies have told him that “we weren’t aware of all the details.”

“That’s fair,” Belden said. “Each of the members should have their say.”

He said the ad-hoc committee will meet again October 23.

Dunn said the commission would be “an advocate” for the emergency personnel. He has said the emergency operations have received considerable support from the town, but as new leaders are elected through the years, there is no guarantee that those circumstances will continue.

Dunn said it is possible that the ordinance/commission could be approved by the selectman before the end of 2025.

All of the candidates for the Board of Selectmen agree that the top capital priority for the next two-year term, which starts in early December, should be the expansion of the police headquarters on Silvermine Road or the construction of a new facility elsewhere on the municipal campus or at another location.

Belden underscored that the current headquarters, which opened in the 1980s, is “no longer in compliance” with federal law enforcement regulations.

Separate ad-hoc committees are studying the expansion of the police facilities and how to use the site of the former Center Elementary School (CES), which closed two years ago.

The Police Facilities ad-hoc committee is chaired by former Police Chief Jay Purcell, who told the selectmen in July that the panel should have a recommendation next June.

Belden said that panel is considering several options, which is similar to the discussion that municipal officials had when considering what to do about the now-defunct Huckleberry Hill Elementary School on Candlewood Lake Road.

Belden, who was chairman of the Board of Education at the time, said “eight to 10 options” were considered before voters approved the $78.1 million Candlewood Lake Elementary School at referendum in 2019. The school, which educates pre-kindergarten through fifth grade students, opened in 2023.

“You have to understand what the trade-offs are,” he explained.

Belden said he believes the selectmen could get that recommendation to a referendum vote in the November 2026 gubernatorial election.

He said the other ad-hoc committee, chaired by longtime civic volunteer Bob Zinser, faces a “more complex” task since in addition to doing a structural review of CES, it will determine whether it needs to be demolished or a new structure built for what could be a combined community center, library and recreation complex.

At the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce candidates debate on October 7, Dunn said that if the police facilities project is approved next year there would not be any bond debt payments for at least two years. He has said that the town could move forward with a project starting in 2026 when there would be debt relief, since payments will be completed from the renovations to Brookfield High School. That project was approved at referendum in 2003.

If voters go to the polls in November of 2026 to vote on an expansion of police facilities, should they also know what the price tag will be for a proposed community center/library/recreation facility and be able to calculate the long-term bonded debt for the town?

Said Belden, “I would hope so.”

Resources:

Interview with Bob Belden, Patch.com, on Sunday, September 28, 2025.

Phone interview with Steve Dunn, Patch.com, on Tuesday, October 14, 2025.

University of Connecticut Trail Census Report, 2024.

https://patch.com/connecticut/brookfield/contacting-voters-through-multiple-platforms

https://patch.com/connecticut/brookfield/donnelly-brings-experience-security-systems-zoning-code-military-service

https://patch.com/connecticut/...