Copyright 2006 The Hartford Courant Company
By LARRY SMITH
Hartford Courant (Connecticut)
ENFIELD, Conn. — Town council members have decided to give Town Attorney Christopher Bromson the additional job of public safety director.
Under the new job, Bromson will oversee the police department and emergency medical services. He will earn $52,000 in addition to his $50,000 annual salary as town attorney and will answer to the town manager.
Bromson, who served as acting town manager for six months, was sworn in Wednesday. He will have an office in police headquarters.
Mayor Patrick Tallarita said the town council decided during its recent budget deliberations that the job, which has traditionally been done by the town manager, would be better handled by a separate person who reports to the town manager.
With the addition of the emergency medical service and a new town manager being hired, the council felt it was a good time to add the position.
“It all ties together well,” Tallarita said.
Bromson was offered the job because he was heavily involved with the formation of the emergency medical service, and during his six months as acting town manager he had also worked closely with the police and the fire departments, Tallarita said.
Bromson said the job is outlined in the town charter and entails overseeing the police department, EMS and being a liaison to the five fire departments. If the town were ever to decide to consolidate the fire departments, that new department would be under the public safety director, he said.
During the past few months he has been able to observe the police and EMS personnel doing their jobs, and Bromson said he has a better understanding of what they do.
“For the last six months I’ve done it every day,” he said.
Before being appointed acting town manager, Bromson had represented people arrested by Enfield police as their cases worked through the criminal courts. Bromson said when he became acting town manager, his firm stopped taking cases involving the Enfield police and will continue to do that as long as he is public safety director.
Tallarita said Bromson’s experience as a criminal defense attorney is a benefit to the town and he believes Bromson looks at working with the other side of the criminal justice system as a challenge.
William Lee, a Republican council member, said the importance of a public safety director was demonstrated to him and the other council members. In the past, when the police department was the only agency under the public safety director’s purview, it was appropriate for the town manager to handle both jobs, he said.
“At this point, we feel there are enough issues and enough parties involved that it warrants at least a part-time position,” Lee said.
The idea of separating the public safety director’s job from the town manager had been discussed in the past, but former Town Manager Scott Shanley had believed the job was among his responsibilities, Lee said. The idea became more prevalent when the council decided there was money available to add the position to the 2006-07 budget, he said.
Ultimately, the town charter allows incoming Town Manager Matthew Coppler to decide whether the public safety director post should be a separate position, but Bromson has the full support of the council, Lee said.