Name: Tim Brennan

Party: Democrat

Candidate for: Town Council

Address: 111 Garfield Road

Age: 39

Years in town: 10 

Profession: Attorney

Tim Brennan said he and his wife chose West Hartford as the best place to raise their family, and to eventually retire, because “we knew about West Hartford for its great schools. My parents were public school teachers here for a combined 58 years, so I knew well about the quality of the schools and the great community.” He cited the town’s “strong public safety and other great services.”   

“I believe in serving and this is a way I can give back,” he said of his reason for seeking a seat on the town council two years ago. In 2007, he ran for the first time and was elected. He has been the deputy mayor for about a year.

He is an investment attorney at The Hartford. 

Brennan’s overarching priority is to “try to pull everyone together, to set aside any possible differences” and to work on the issues. He cited this past budget cycle as “the best example of public government” he’d ever witnessed. 

“Last year when the economy fell off a cliff, we had the town hall meetings that people across the country can’t seem to do well. We had every stakeholder in the room [elected officials, town and school management, unions, taxpayers’ association, and residents]… Every person put the town first and through some self sacrifice for the greater good, enabled us to have a decreased budget while at the same time keeping police and fire very strong, keeping our schools top notch, and keeping the rest of our services operating well.

“It’s the way that government should always be,” Brennan said. It’s easy to shine when things are going well, it’s when “faced with extreme challenges” that you “get to find out who your leaders are.”

His second priority, if elected, will be to continue his efforts in the field of energy. He is the council’s liaison to the energy task force, and he chairs the council’s subcommittee for administration and technology that oversees the town’s facilities.

Energy reduction was an issue he ran on and a promise he feels he’s kept, noting that “we’ve saved more than a million dollars in energy through various efforts.”

His first resolution was to get 400 kW of power through solar panels “at no cost to taxpayers.” Two of the units will be placed on town buildings, two on schools. “We’re not paying a dime for them,” he said. They were part of the package when purchasing solar power from a third party at lower cost than it was being purchased from the previous supplier.

“We’re just getting started; there’s so much we can do,” Brennan said. “The issue compels me for many reasons, including doing our part to combat global warming, to be free from foreign sources of energy, for our health… and most magically of all, we can accomplish all of that while saving a tremendous amount of money in our budget. And, the savings come without reducing any services. You’re just reducing a cost. Every dollar you save on energy supports other key services.”

Accomplishments include becoming the first Connecticut municipality to write, sponsor and pass a comprehensive energy plan. “The plan lays out ways for the town to make its buildings more efficient – from the various ways it uses energy” to more efficient lighting across town, he said, noting that this all was done with unanimous support from every council member. 

“We’ve done a lot already” including replacing some lights with LED bulbs, reducing the motor vehicle fleet and making buildings more energy efficient, he said. “One accomplishment recently was to take all the data from our buildings” and run it through the Energy Star program. If the advice is followed, almost a million dollars can be saved, he said. “We’ll get there through federal and state grants – free money – and some zero-interest financing, and a little bit of our own low-interest financing,” Brennan said.

His third priority will be to continue his work as the liaison to the newly formed West Hartford Veterans Commission. He is not a veteran.

“It’s just been an amazing experience,” he said. “We’re fortunate to have people on the commission who not only served their country, but will serve their town by helping veterans here.” Initial efforts have been to reach out to veterans, to compile a list of the benefits available to them, and to create more public awareness for the needs of veterans.

The new group took on the Memorial Day Parade with the desire to get more veterans to march, and planned a series of two days to honor all of the town’s World War II veterans. The group also approached the board of education and proposed that schools be open on Veteran’s Day and that the curriculum teach students what veterans have done and what issues they face. The group is working “to double the number of veterans in the schools this year.” 

If re-elected, Brennan said he will continue to work build consensus, and to advocate for issues by bringing them from the idea state to implementation by working with a coalition of people “to make it all happen.”