The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Long-serving selectmen not renewing bids
PORTLAND » No matter the outcome of the November elections, two familiar faces will be missing fromthe next Board of Selectmen.
Veteran Selectwoman Kathleen G. Richards, a political mainstay for the past 14 years, has decided not to seek re-election. So, too, her fellow Democratic colleague, Frederick R. Knous, who has been on the board for the past five years.
Coupled with the resignation of Deputy First Selectman Brian M. Flood this past spring, the departure of the three amounts to a seismic change in the board’s makeup.
In an email, Richards explained she is giving up her seat because after 12 years on the board (and two years on the Board of Education before that), “I feel it is time to move on to other things.” First and foremost, Richards,
who is an executive with Henkels & McCoy, said, “I Like to spend time with my eight grandchildren.” But beyond that, she said, “I’m looking into other ways that I can volunteer.”
To that end, Richards has completed training to be a volunteer in the Hospice and Palliative Care unit at Middlesex Hospital. In addition, “I have also agreed to serve on the 2017-18 Campaign Cabinet for the Middlesex United Way,” Richards said.
Knous is a former state senator who now works as a consultant for the General Assembly. He was appointed to the board to fill out the term of former selectwoman Sharon Peters.
Knous said after five years on the board — and with the challenges facing the town and state — especially the prolonged debate about a state budget, “it was time to bring in some new faces with some fresh ideas.”
First Selectwoman Susan S. Bransfield said Knous and Richards are exemplars of a selfless commitment to the town, its government and people. Knous and Richards have complimentary area of expertise, he with the details of public policy and she with “a keen business sense,” Bransfield said.
Knous has focused on ensuring the town remains a safe and pleasant area in which to walk, and has constantly pressed his board colleagues to improve the condition of sidewalks in town.
“He also has a strong sense of curb appeal,” Bransfield said. “Fred makes sure every time we take a tree down, we plant another one to take its place.”
Given her background as a construction company executive, Richards has been “a reliable source of information about heavy equipment, so that we have the best value,” Bransfield said.
Richards has been equally reliable in matters affecting public safety and “was always loyal to her duties as deputy first selectwoman,” Bransfield said.
More than that, like Flood (and his father Tom, who was also a selectman) and former select men Mark Finkelstein and Howard Rosenbaum, Knous and Richards embody the concept of unstinting service to the community, Bransfield said.
Richards has been active in her church and in the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce, all while balancing her personal and professional lives and service on the Board of Selectmen, Bransfield said.
“She and Fred are very loyal and committed and they are dedicated and dependable. Kathy and Fred are the epitome of making certain that we have quality service with effective and efficient operations,” she said.