By Kent Ashworth
Bloomfield, CT – When the late Winston DeBeatham and his wife Pauline migrated from Jamaica to the U.S. in 1978, their priority was a better life for their family. Looking back now, his daughter Suzette DeBeatham-Brown reflects, “I would have never thought, as a skinny, loud girl from Jamaica, that I would grow up to become mayor of Bloomfield!”
In fact, she says, she hates politics — particularly when it becomes personal and less about problem solving than power games.
“My father wanted a better life, so we migrated,” she recalled. “I never thought I would enter politics, but my parents instilled in us the concept of service. If not for that, I would not be in this race.”
And yet, Ms. DeBeatham-Brown presently is running on a six-person slate with two other incumbent council members – Rickford Kirton and Stephanie Calhoun – seeking re-election by way of the town’s September 14 primary leading up to the general election November 2nd.
“I must say how honored I am to be the first Black, female, Caribbean Mayor for the Town of Bloomfield,” she said last week, “and currently the only Black Mayor in the state.” That is a striking fact, given Connecticut has a total of 169 towns.
Under its charter, Bloomfield elects a nine-member, uncompensated Town Council every two years, in the odd years, as it did in 2017 and 2019, respectively, when DeBeatham-Brown won her first two elections.
Following the November election, the Bloomfield Town Council then elects the town mayor, who then chairs the Town Council. This occurred in 2019, when the Council chose DeBeatham-Brown to be mayor.
Under Bloomfield’s charter, the chief executive officer of the town is the town manager, who is directly responsible to the council for the administration of all departments, agencies and offices – as well as in charge of preparing the town budget. Coming out of retirement, Acting Town Manager Philip Schenk is holding down that post while the Town Council conducts a search for a permanent Town Manager.
Bloomfield “is indebted to our Acting Town Manager, his senior team and all of our staff for the tremendous job they have been doing, particularly over the last 18 months,” the mayor said.
The pandemic outbreak and its ongoing health and economic uncertainties, the mayor said, can only be described as “a horror show.”
At the same time, she focused on forming a COVID Recovery Committee and developing partnerships during the pandemic with nearby mayors, as well as with business and faith community leaders, to provide residents with face masks, more than 3,000 boxes of food and produce, and public information.
“The COVID pandemic made us pivot,” she said. “We had to make a hard shift. We had to find ways of connecting with our residents, conducting our meetings and keeping everyone updated on all that was going on. We had to learn new technology (Zoom) for our meetings. I started doing PSA’s to get information out to our residents. We made new partnerships with our local businesses to get PPE and facemasks. We partnered with our Houses of Worship and Mayors from Windsor and West Hartford to distribute food.”
Asked what drives her to serve, DeBeatham-Brown again referred to the influence of her parents, who inspired her to earn Bachelors and Master’s degrees in sociology/ criminal justice and counseling, respectively, as well as a doctorate in theology (she is a minister with the International Church of God).
But she described politics as “politricks, meaning the way we use politics against individuals, the way it’s used as a weapon against the people we don’t like. This can be a very dirty sport and that is what I don’t like. I love serving the people of our great town. We, members of the Town Council, volunteer our time and energy to make Bloomfield a place that we can all be proud of,” she said.
“I am extremely proud of the way our town responded to the racial unrest last summer with the George Floyd killing and several incidents here in Bloomfield,” the mayor added. “We rallied together as a community and showed why Bloomfield was chosen as the ‘nicest town in Connecticut’ [by Readers Digest]. At the same time, our COVID Recovery Committee and our town employees exemplified the best of Bloomfield when we needed them the most.
“I am pleased with the economic development activities and the surge in the housing market that have boosted our revenue base and allowed us to keep taxes level while maintaining quality services,” she added. “I am pleased to see our students being recognized for their academic excellence, including the state spelling bee champion and our high school students who were recognized for their STEM achievements in partnership with Otis Elevator.”
Considering her slate, which includes Kirtin and Calhoun as well as Democrats Jon Colman, Greg Davis, and Pat Davis, DeBeatham-Brown said she was excited about the slate “because of the depth and diversity of our expertise and backgrounds. We have a talented and passionate team and our number one focus is Moving Bloomfield Forward. Each member of ‘our Team’ is currently serving our town and we are committed to working together and listening to our neighbors. We are excited about the next two years.”
Asked to enumerate plans and priorities, the mayor said, “We plan to focus on expanding on the quality services being provided to our seniors; promoting the health and safety of our residents; building a 21st century library system; completing the Filley Pond enhancements; developing a plan for revitalizing Wintonbury Mall; protecting the environment and encouraging solar systems for new town buildings; capitalizing on sustained economic growth; keeping taxes level; and supporting our Board of Education.”
Although the Democratic Town Committee saw fit to endorse another slate, DeBeatham-Brown said, she and her fellow Democratic challengers promptly collected the necessary signatures to get on the September 14 primary ballot.
“We will put our fate in the hands of the residents of Bloomfield,” she said.
The Inquiring News will continue its coverage of the 2021 town election in coming weeks.
