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FAIRFIELD, Conn. Another hopeful entered the race for Fairfields top elected position over the Independence Day weekend. Fairfield Firefighter Hugh Dolan announced that he will seek the Republican nomination for first selectman in the November voting. He will compete with established candidates David Becker and Robert Bellitto Jr. in the partys caucus July 19.
This town is hurting deeply, Dolan said in his campaign announcement. The residents, property owners and taxpayers are taxed out and fed up. Politics as usual has got to end.
A former accountant, Dolan has been a member of the Fire Department since 1991. He is currently a firefighter in the Fire Suppression/ Rescue Division, the group that goes out as first responders to fires. He lives in town with his wife and eight children.
Dolan has never held elected office, but this will mark his second campaign in as many years. He ran as an Independent for the state comptrollers office in 2010. In that race he led all third-party candidates with 16,967 votes, or 2 percent of total. Democrat Kevin Lembo won with 53 percent of the vote.
The Fairfield firefighters announcement creates a three-way race to challenge Democratic Interim First Selectman Michael Tetreau, who will attempt to hold onto the job he took over June 10. Representative Town Meeting member David Becker and Board of Finance member Robert Bellitto Jr. both launched their campaigns in the spring. The two have scheduled a debate July 11 in preparation for the partys nomination caucus July 19. It is not yet known if Dolan will join the debate.
Dolan pledged to protect Fairfielders from ridiculous and wasteful spending, and from never-ending boondoggles like this train station fiasco. In particular, he said his priorities would be to block contracts that would cost the town more than $500,000, restore the towns spending to 2010 levels wherever possible and order an audit of all town departments to find waste. Dolan also said he plans to establish a citizens advisory board to provide input on town decisions.
Finally, the people will have their voices heard on a regular basis, Dolan said. We will get the debt paid down, reduce the budget by at least $27 million, and Fairfield will, once again, be an affordable and beautiful place to live.
What do you think of Hugh Dolans chances in the race for first selectman? Share your views in the comments below.
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