The newly seated Board of Selectmen had started their new term for just a few moments at their first regular meeting before hearing a coordinated message from community members and members of the town’s Economic Development Commission.
During Thursday’s public comment section, some six speakers called for the restoration of a full-time Economic Development Director, a position the town held until earlier this year.
Jack Zazzaro, Chair of the Economic Development Commission (EDC), said bluntly, “If we can’t get Kevin, we’ve got to get somebody just like him.”
Zazzaro and others spoke of Kevin Bielmeier, the town’s first and only person to hold the position, starting in 2019. The position was effectively defunded by $95,000 in the prior fiscal year’s budget meetings, leading Bielmeier to submit his resignation in May.
Now, in front of the newly sworn-in O’Neil administration, a commission’s plea for a full-time role dedicated to economic development was heard loud and clear, with a sense of urgency.
“Economic development doesn’t happen by accident,” said Robyn Greenspan, a member of the EDC.
She thanked those in the Land Use Department for trying to fill in the gaps since Bielmeier’s departure, but said that restoring the full-time role is one of the most important steps to securing Southbury’s future.
“We’re trying to move forward without a dedicated economic development leader at a time when strategic guidance is really important,” she added.
The blitz of the new board wasn’t totally unforeseen, as Selectwoman Kelly Keenan is the former secretary of the EDC, where the topic was discussed at their Wednesday, November 19th meeting. Members discussed how they would present this to the new board, refining details like salary ranges and possible language for a potential job posting.
EDC member Mary Korsu added at Thursday’s meeting, “Economic development is so vital to our town, but we like to make sure we do it the right way, and Kevin always demonstrated the skills to do that.”
During the campaign, Keenan called the move “short-sighted” to let Beilmeier go, adding that it would be a “top priority” to get somebody back in that position.
Some former members of the EDC questioned how the situation was handled.
In one case, the reveal of the budget cuts this spring prompted resident Fred Sell to bring the issue to the town’s Charter Review Commission.
In the process, some members of the then-Board of Finance and other commissions noted that while they may have come to the same conclusion, there may have been a better way of doing and communicating so.
Selectwoman Cathy De Carli, a former Board of Finance member who was one of the only votes to keep the position, has described the situation as being “cruel”.
Ultimately, the budget cuts across the board took effect, as the re-appraisal of the former IBM campus came in at a much lower figure than it had historically been. A shortfall of about $850,000 in annual property tax value was met with the subsequent cuts, including the reduction of Bielmeier’s full-time position to 10 hours per week.
Bielmeier’s office, once located at the end of the third floor of Town Hall, is currently occupied by the Office of Emergency Management.
The next Board of Selectmen meeting is scheduled for Thursday, December 18, a day after the next EDC meeting.
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