Tetreau Files for First Selectman

Michael Tetreau, a member of the town's Board of Finance, has filed paperwork in the Town Clerk's Office to run for first selectman. Tetreau's running mate will be Cristin McCarthy Vahey, the minority leader on the Representative Town Meeting.

Meanwhile, Selectmen Sherri Steeneck and James Walsh will begin discussing who the interim first selectman should be during a Board of Selectmen's meeting at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in Sullivan-Independence Hall.

State Freedom of Information laws allow that discussion to take place behind closed doors, but require that two-thirds of the Board of Selectmen agree to have the discussion behind closed doors and that a motion to have a private meeting be "seconded."

First Selectman Ken Flatto's last day is Tuesday, and the only selectmen listed on the agenda for Wednesday's meeting are Steeneck and Walsh, which means both would have to agree to a closed-door discussion for it to take place.

Walsh on Monday said he wants the discussion to take place in public and will not second a motion to go into a closed-door session or vote in favor of one.

"I won't allow that to happen, and Sherri knows my position on that. It's going to be in public session. I will not agree to it being in executive session," Walsh said.

"Until this is over, it has to be unanimous and you need a second," Walsh said of requirements to have a closed-door discussion, "so there's no way to get there."

Steeneck said, "I have no problem with it being in public session."

Tetreau's decision to file paperwork to run for first selectman comes in the wake of concerns from Republican Town Committee Chairman James Baldwin that the person appointed as interim first selectman by Steeneck and Walsh not be someone who wants the job in November. Baldwin has said that could politicize the Board of Selectmen and give an unfair advantage in the November election to the interim first selectman, who essentially would be the incumbent.

But Steeneck prefers Tetreau, who was the unanimous choice of the Democratic Town Committee. "You have to have someone who wants it," Steeneck said Monday of the interim first selectman's position. "It has to be someone who wants it and who could probably do the job because they know the players and can get the job done."

After Flatto resigns on Tuesday, Steeneck will serve as first selectman until an interim first selectman is appointed.

Walsh said he is looking forward to Wednesday's discussion and that he hasn't made up his mind on who the interim first selectman should be. If Walsh and Steeneck don't agree within 30 days of Flatto's resignation, the question would be put to a handful of elected Democrats in Fairfield.

Flatto, who has been first selectman on a continuous basis since November 2001, is resigning to take a job in Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's administration. Flatto served as a selectman from 1995 to 1997 and from 1999 to 2001. He served also served as first selectman from 1997 to 1999.