Flatto Says Time for New Challenges

Saying it was a time for new challenges and proud of his record in office, First Selectman Ken Flatto on Tuesday afternoon said he was leaving the town's top job at the end of April for a job in Gov. Dannel Malloy's administration.

"This has been one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make," Flatto said in a first-floor conference room in Sullivan-Independence Hall that was crowded with town department heads. "It's been an absolute pleasure to serve as first selectman the last 12 or so years. I love the town of Fairfield, and I love this job here in Fairfield."

Flatto, who has been first selectman for nearly 12 years, said he was confident he would have won re-election to a sixth term in November had he not accepted the position of executive director of the state Division of Special Revenues. But Flatto said he felt it was time for new challenges and that he was leaving the town in "great shape."

"I know I have the skill set to make things work better and make things better for citizens of Connecticut," Flatto said. He said he also liked the idea of being part of Malloy's administration, which he said was filled with top-notch people.

"It's an opportunity to do great things and an opportunity to impact things even more," Flatto said.

Flatto said the annual pay in his new job, which regulates money that comes in from the state lotteries and casinos, is slightly less than the $127,020 he is making as first selectman.

Flatto said the hours associated with the first selectman's job were long, especially during weather-related emergencies, but kind words from residents while he ate in a restaurant or visited local businesses "have been beyond anything I could have expected."

Flatto said he also enjoyed the feeling of driving by a new school or open space that the town had acquired and knowing he had a part in making that happen. "It's a remarkable feeling. It's a great feeling and makes me sleep well at night," he said.

Flatto said he had accomplished "80 to 90 percent of key things I wanted to accomplish" as first selectman.

Two projects he said he would have liked resolved while he was first selectman were the opening of the town's third train station on lower Black Rock Turnpike and the removal of lead-contaminated sediment from Mill River by the old Exide property and that Post Road property's redevelopment.

Flatto is also leaving at a time when the town budget is under significant pressure from underfunded reserves and the loss of pension money from the stock market's collapse in the fall of 2008 and the revelation that pension money the town had invested with convicted scammer Bernard Madoff was worthless. Contracts with all seven unions representing town employees also have expired and two proposed contracts were rejected by the Representative Town Meeting.

Flatto said he had been "blessed with wonderful associates on the Board of Selectmen."

The two remaining members of the Board of Selectmen - Sherri Steeneck, a Democrat, and James Walsh, a Republican - will choose Flatto's successor. That successor will serve in the town's top job until the November election.

If Steeneck and Walsh can't agree on a replacement for Flatto within 30 days of Flatto's resignation, Town Attorney Richard Saxl said the town's elected Democrats - who include members of the Board of Finance, RTM, Town Plan and Zoning Commission, and Zoning Board of Appeals - would vote to elect Flatto's replacement.

Saxl cited state statutes to back up his opinion of what would happen if Steeneck and Walsh don't agree, which was different than an account provided by the Town Clerk's Office. State statutes trump the Town Charter, according to Saxl.

But Saxl said he believed it would be a mo0t point because he expected Steeneck and Walsh to reach an agreement on Flatto's replacement.

Steeneck, who became a member of the Board of Selectmen after former Selectman Denise Dougiello died during her term in office, will serve as first selectman until she and Walsh agree on a replacement. Steeneck said she had no interest in being first selectman beyond the brief period in between Flatto's resignation and the appointment of a replacement for Flatto. Steeneck said she wasn't even seeking re-election as a selectman due to business and family commitments. Steeneck said being first selectman for a brief period of time would be "a challenge if I were looking at it full-time, but I'm not. I'm looking at it until somebody is selected."

Steeneck also said she didn't see a problem with appointing someone as Flatto's replacement who had an interest in running for first selectman in November. So far, the only Democrat who has publicly stated an interest in being first selectman is Board of Finance member Michael Tetreau.

"Why do we need more turnover than we already have?" Steeneck asked. "As long as we have a really competent person, it doesn't matter if they want the job full-time."

Steeneck said she and Walsh have "a great working relationship" and she hopes the decision on Flatto's replacement "would not become political."

When a vacancy occurs on the Board of Selectmen, tradition calls for the political party to whom the vacancy belongs to make a recommendation on a replacement and for the remaining selectmen to accept that recommendation. That was how it worked when Dougiello died, and, after Dougiello, when Republican Selectman Ralph Bowley died.

For a brief period of time, every member of the Board of Selectmen will be appointed instead of elected. Steeneck and Walsh were appointed after Dougiello and Bowley passed away, and Flatto's replacement also likely will be appointed.

Flatto said he would work to ensure the transition to a new first selectman "is seamless, and I will do everything in my power to make sure the town is in good hands."

Flatto said he intends to remain in Fairfield as a resident after he starts his new job. "We're Fairfielders, and we'll be here in Fairfield, I'm sure, for quite a while to come," he said.