Democrat O’Connor Is New Chairman Of Police Commission

Edward O’Connor, a police commissioner since 2009, has been elected to succeed the retired David Lee as commission chairman.

A resident of Clinton for more than 20 years and a Democrat, O’Connor was appointed to fill a vacancy on the police commission in mid-2009, and was elected to a two-year term in town elections that November.

He previously served for nearly eight years on the Water Pollution Control Commission.

A licensed marine surveyor, O’Connor also has worked for AT&T and currently is an official with Tactical Communications Inc., a Guilford company specializing in radio communications systems.

Lee, a Republican, was first elected to the five-member board of police commissioners in 2003 and served for the past five years as its chairman. Coping with health issues and not planning to seek another term in office, he submitted his resignation from the board in February.

O’Connor’s election came after selectmen earlier this month voted to appoint Leonard Cahill, with some 40 years of public service to Clinton, to serve out the remainder of Lee’s term on the board.

A charter alumnus of the police department’s Citizen’s Police Academy, Cahill said he submitted his candidacy because, “I had some time to spare, I guess. There’s new people in the police department and I thought it would be interesting.”

“I just went to my first meeting. I’m brand new, so I’m trying to keep my mouth shut,” he said.

His appointment brings Cahill back to the commission on which he first served in Clinton before going on to several terms on the Board of Finance and then to seven terms as a member of the Board of Selectmen.

Originally registered as a Democrat, Cahill moved to Farmington for two years in the mid-1990s and switched his party affiliation to Republican upon his return to Clinton in 1997.

While a Republican, it was the current Democratic majority on the board of selectmen that ensured his appointment.

Required by the town charter to fill a vacancy on an elected board or commission with a person of the same party, selectmen earlier this month chose among three candidates for the position: Republican Town Committee (RTC) Chairman Vincent Cimino, former Republican selectman Arthur Isaacson, and Cahill, with seven terms as a selectman, first as a Democrat and more recently as a Republican.

While Isaacson and Cahill submitted letters to the selectmen and the RTC expressing their interest in serving as a police commissioner, the RTC recommended that Cimino be named to fill the vacancy - apparently without making all members of the committee aware that Isaacson and Cahill also sought the nomination.

A frequent critic of First Selectman Willie Fritz, Cimino’s candidacy was supported by Republican selectmen Raymond Apel and Carol Walter, but was rejected without discussion by the Democratic majority on the board.

Presenting the names of the next two candidates, Fritz failed in his request for requested a motion that Isaacson be considered, but succeeded in bringing Cahill’s candidacy for a vote.

In another 3-2 result, Apel and Walter opposed his candidacy, but the three Democrats prevailed in naming him to replace Lee.

Fritz said later, “I’m not going to disparage anybody. We just didn’t feel (Cimino) was the right person for the job. Arthur and Lenny both have long experience in government, Lenny previously on the police commission and Arthur has been working on police department projects for years.”