08/25/2026
FIRST SELECTMAN'S MONTHLY MESSAGE
Back To School
It seems like yesterday I was writing about the upcoming Fourth of July celebration. Now most residents are preparing for the Brooklyn Agricultural Fair and doing their back-to-school shopping. In the First Selectman’s office it’s been a busy summer. So I thought I’d use this message to highlight some of the things we’ve been doing here on Wolf Den Road.
Employee Engagement
Earlier this year we instituted a monthly supervisors meeting. This meeting provides supervisors an opportunity to connect and share information across departments that can be helpful to serving our constituents. A by-product of these meetings was the development of a new performance evaluation system to provide employees performance feedback and create opportunities for professional growth. The initial evaluations will be completed later this month, with an end of year evaluation done for each employee in January.
Beginning this fall, we are establishing a new employee initiative called the “Employee Voice”. This initiative creates a representative committee of 8-10 employees who will work together to create an “employee voice” as we face changes, challenges, and opportunities in our community. This committee will begin its work creating a set of values and behaviors we will all practice in our daily work lives. In the future the committee will act as a sounding board and provide recommendations to guide the First Selectman and Selectboard’s work as we seek to create new policies and procedures.
Early Voting – Primary Season
A very heartfelt thank you to all our poll workers and our Registrar of Voter staff who stepped up this month to make sure democracy’s voice was heard during this primary season. They are to be commended for their commitment to training and long hours to make sure your voices were heard during the primary voting period.
Town Administrator Search
Brooklyn has contracted with Randi Frank Consulting to conduct our first ever Town Administrator search. The position has been officially posted and applications are beginning to flow into Randi’s office. We look forward to sorting through the candidates and beginning the interview process later in September.
Parks & Recreation
We are pleased to announce the successful search for our new Parks & Recreation Director. Chris DiGiro joined us on August 17th and has jumped right into his new role. Chris joins us from Hebron, CT where he previously served in a similar role. Chris also spent 6 years in Unalaska, Alaska working in the Parks & Recreation program.
With Chris now firmly in place, let me extend my sincere thanks to the entire Parks & Recreation team for stepping up this summer and running such a successful summer of great programming and experiences for our youth. We are truly fortunate to have such a dedicated team.
Speaking of dedication - Prince Hill Park received a new pavilion, the result of a generous gift by the Suprenant family. The Suprenant family not only donated the money, but also coordinated all aspects to build this beautiful new pavilion for families to enjoy for generations to come. We are truly thankful to them for this incredible gift and support for our community.
Grant Funding
Earlier this year our community voted to secure $10M in funding to upgrade the ventilation systems in our primary and secondary schools. Once secured, we were able to apply for non-emergency school grant funding to offset this cost. With much appreciation for Superintendent of Schools Michele Raynor and the Building Committee, we were able to secure that funding earlier this month. This grant funding will help offset nearly 70% of the overall project cost, saving Brooklyn nearly $7M based on current estimated cost. Our thanks to everyone involved in securing that funding.
Also this month, I signed a “Commitment to Fund” agreement with the CT Department of Transportation for a $500,000 Community Connectivity Grant. This grant will be utilized to create safe sidewalk passage from Route 6, south along Route 169 to the Fairgrounds entrance.
So it’s been a busy summer here on Wolf Den Road. But it’s also been very productive. We are in a good position to continue our work this fall. So thank you to everyone for your contributions to making Brooklyn the amazing community it is. Enjoy the fair and remember to be mindful as you drive around town next week. Our youngest citizens rely on us for their safety as they return to school.
