Subcommittee Interviews Three Board Candidates

Other Committee · Meeting of October 8, 2026

Bloomfield's Committee on Committees subcommittee interviewed three board candidates and heard a YWCA pitch to widen civic participation. YWCA Hartford Region representative Yvonne Davis asked the town to formalize a 2021 partnership aimed at recruiting more unaffiliated, women and minority applicants for Bloomfield's roughly 50 boards and commissions, quoting Shirley Chisholm: "if they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair." The subcommittee then interviewed Patricia Miller and a longtime member addressed as Alistair for the Commission on Aging, plus Bloomfield Beautification Committee chair Sharon Mann, who is seeking another term after 10 and a half years leading the panel. Mann said a $250,000 landscape installation at 330 Park Avenue has deteriorated and that the council never responded to five years of requests for a town horticulturalist: "I wrote letters.

I never received acknowledgement, no one ever called me." No votes were taken; the subcommittee's minutes stood approved without objection, and its next meeting is set for November 12, 2026.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 1,936 words

Source: the Other Committee meeting of October 8, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

The Full Article

YWCA Hartford Region Partnership

Bloomfield's Committee on Committees subcommittee has worked with the YWCA Hartford Region since 2021 on a civic-engagement initiative aimed at getting more residents, particularly unaffiliated voters, women and minorities, to apply for the town's roughly 50 boards and commissions. The item came up Thursday because the partnership, launched under then-Mayor Suzette DeBetham Brown, stalled amid scheduling conflicts and now needs renewed attention: a memorandum of understanding between the town and the YWCA still requires a countersignature from the YWCA's chief executive officer, and a planned joint press conference with regional mayors never happened.

The question before the subcommittee was whether and how to formalize, update and expand the existing informal partnership, including sharing vacancy data and co-hosting outreach events.

YWCA Hartford Region representative Yvonne Davis framed the effort as addressing what she called the "invisible half of government," the appointed boards and commissions that she said shape planning and zoning, education policy, health and human services and other town functions without the visibility of elected office. She cited Connecticut's rule that unaffiliated voters can fill the roughly one-third of board seats not reserved for the two major parties, and said the YWCA Hartford Region has run joint trainings on parliamentary procedure, ethics and open-meetings law with about 20 Connecticut towns, from Putnam to Middletown to Tolland, through a partnership with the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. She said Windsor, Manchester and Rocky Hill have since joined an ongoing Zoom training series alongside Bloomfield, Hartford and East Hartford, and that Tolland is expected to join as well.

Davis asked the subcommittee for current vacancy counts so the YWCA could help organize an open house and media push, and offered to link the YWCA's promotional efforts to the town's existing online board and commission application form. She also referenced a state-level push, which she attributed to Connecticut's lieutenant governor, Susan Bisowitz, to get about half of board and commission seats statewide filled by women and minorities.

"If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair," Davis said, repeating a line she attributed to Shirley Chisholm, to illustrate why appointed, non-electoral civic participation matters.

Councilwoman Suzette DeBetham Brown, who said the partnership began under her leadership when she was mayor in 2021, called the renewed effort "a wonderful partnership" and said she expects to work with YWCA representatives on filling additional boards going forward. Councilman Goodwin praised the town's current applicant pool, saying more than 100 people have interviewed for various committees and commissions this cycle, and noted that some sitting members have begun voluntarily stepping aside so new residents can serve. He said there is still room to widen outreach, especially to unaffiliated residents.

"I think there is room for more growth, room for improvement, and I think what you're suggesting, I love the idea of a fair, a greater and better promotion to get more people involved, specifically folks who are unaffiliated," Goodwin said, adding that he wanted vacancy and application numbers from Davis to help plan next steps.

No vote was taken on the partnership. The subcommittee chair said the town would brief the full council on the partnership's status to help "amplify" the relationship with the YWCA, and said the current appointment round should wrap up within a few more meetings, with recruitment for future vacancies continuing afterward through a year-round application process.

Commission on Aging Interviews

The subcommittee interviewed two candidates for the Commission on Aging as part of an ongoing round of board and commission appointments that began earlier this year. The question before the subcommittee for each candidate was the same three-part format used for all applicants: their interest and what they would bring to the commission, their availability for meetings, and anything else they wanted the council or subcommittee to know.

Patricia Miller, a 16-year Bloomfield resident, told the subcommittee she has previously served on a town funding committee that allocates money to community organizations and has served on the Commission on Aging because she wants to help residents who are often overlooked. She said the commission has recently discussed bringing in AARP and the regional Area Agency on Aging to connect seniors with services they may not know exist, and that she attended a commission meeting the day before her interview. She said she has never missed a meeting.

"You can learn a lot from our seniors. They bring more to the table than you think," Miller said.

The subcommittee then called a second applicant, a current Commission on Aging member whom the chair addressed directly as Alistair, though an earlier remark in the meeting referred to the same arriving candidate as "Miss Graham Days," a discrepancy the newsroom could not resolve from the available recording. This candidate said he has lived in Bloomfield more than 40 years, has participated in town activities throughout that time, and has served on the Commission on Aging for "many, many years." He said he considered not seeking another term for health reasons but changed his mind because of leadership and structural changes underway at 330 Park Avenue, the town's senior services building.

"I think that the commission on aging need to provide some type of continuity during this transition," he told the subcommittee, adding that he wanted to "provide whatever type of support I could provide to the town and to senior services during this period."

He also used his closing remarks to urge the town council to take senior residents' input seriously. "I think that the town council has taken some of our advice very seriously, and some of it they haven't," he said, asking the council to weigh residents' "experiences, our knowledge, our skills" in future decisions.

No vote was taken on either candidate at this meeting; interviews are conducted ahead of a later appointment vote by the full council, per the subcommittee's standard process. The chair noted that evening interview times have created accessibility problems for some older applicants and said the subcommittee hopes to add a virtual option for future Commission on Aging interviews.

Bloomfield Beautification Committee Interview

The subcommittee's final interview of the night was with Sharon Mann, who has chaired the Bloomfield Beautification Committee for 10 and a half years and is seeking reappointment. The question before the subcommittee was the same three-part format: her interest, her availability, and anything else she wanted the council to know.

Mann, a 57-year Bloomfield resident, opened by saying she was "sort of embarrassed" by the standard interview questions given her tenure, and used her time instead to detail the committee's record. She said the committee created an arboretum, runs an annual notable landscape award judged by past winners and residents, and built a Trees for Bloomfield program that has planted more than 350 trees, about 200 of them given directly to residents who commit to caring for them for at least two years. She said the program has a roughly 3 percent tree loss rate and that the town has earned a Tree City USA designation as a result. She said Windsor Locks, South Windsor and other towns have since asked Bloomfield for help starting similar tree programs, and that the committee is scheduled to brief a Windsor civic group on the model. She also cited a pollinator pathways initiative that drew 60 attendees to its first winter meeting.

Mann said the committee's recent landscape award event drew more than 50 attendees and was attended by the mayor, the deputy mayor and Councilor Joe Merritt, but that she received no response from the town council after writing twice to invite its broader participation.

"I wrote letters. I never received acknowledgement. No one ever called me," Mann said. "Said, well, you're chairman of this committee, what do you think, why are you asking for this, and why did I want a horticulturalist for the town."

Mann said she has asked the town council for a dedicated horticulturalist position for five years, working with a former director of public works on the request, without a response. She said a $250,000 landscape installation at 330 Park Avenue has deteriorated because the town lacks staff trained to maintain it, and said she does not blame the Department of Public Works directly but believes the town needs more horticultural expertise to protect its public-garden investments. She invited council members to walk the town's gardens with her "in the fall or in the spring."

The subcommittee chair thanked Mann for her decade of service and told her that naming the committee's specific accomplishments publicly, on camera, would help residents and council members who may not otherwise hear about them. No vote was taken; Mann's interview, like the Commission on Aging interviews, feeds into a later council appointment vote.

Public Comment and Administrative Matters

No one else appeared for an interview; Peter Wilcox had been scheduled but was not present when called. The subcommittee opened the floor for public comment, both in person and online, and received none. Members then reviewed the minutes of a prior meeting; no council member proposed edits, so the chair said the minutes could stand as approved without a formal vote. The subcommittee set its next meeting for November 12, 2026, at 7 p.m. in the Wintonbury Room, noting that room assignments have been shifting due to other activity in town hall. The subcommittee chair and Councilwoman Suzette DeBetham Brown both thanked Davis for her presentation before adjourning.

Councilman Goodwin — member, Committee on Committees subcommittee, present. Councilwoman Suzette DeBetham Brown — member, Committee on Committees subcommittee, former Bloomfield mayor; participated but said she missed the in-person YWCA presentation. Councilor Waterhouse — named at roll call as awaited; the subcommittee proceeded without confirming the councilor's arrival. Unnamed presiding chair — led roll call, interviews and administrative business; no name given in the available recording. India — town staff member referenced as a point of contact for the appointment process; no surname given. Yvonne Davis — YWCA Hartford Region, presented on the town's boards-and-commissions partnership. Patricia Miller — Commission on Aging applicant, 16-year Bloomfield resident. Applicant addressed as Alistair — Commission on Aging applicant and sitting member seeking reappointment; name uncertain, see review note. Peter Wilcox — scheduled Commission on Aging interview; did not appear. Sharon Mann — chair, Bloomfield Beautification Committee, applicant for reappointment. Joe Merritt — councilor referenced by Mann as having attended a recent Beautification Committee event; did not otherwise appear at this meeting.

YWCA Hartford Region — partner organization presenting its "invisible half of government" boards-and-commissions recruitment initiative and seeking to formalize a joint memorandum of understanding with the town. Connecticut Conference of Municipalities — co-hosted a roughly 20-town training on board and commission service that Davis cited as a model, covering parliamentary procedure, ethics and open-meetings law. Memorandum of understanding between Bloomfield and YWCA Hartford Region — cited by Davis as drafted but still awaiting a countersignature from the YWCA's chief executive officer. Town of Bloomfield online board and commission application portal — referenced by Davis as a system she wants the YWCA to help promote. 330 Park Avenue — Bloomfield's senior services building, cited by both Commission on Aging applicants regarding a leadership transition and by Mann regarding a $250,000 landscape installation in disrepair. Tree City USA — national recognition cited by Mann as earned through the Beautification Committee's Trees for Bloomfield program. Connecticut Lieutenant Governor Susan Bisowitz (as referenced by Davis) — cited as a backer of efforts to get more women and minorities onto state and municipal boards.