When it was his turn to speak, the entire room at the November meeting of the Fairfield PTA all collectively turned their heads at the same time. Fairfield’s First Selectman Ken Flatto smiled, walked up to the podium, opened his mouth and proceeded to tell everyone there that he thought they were wrong.
“If I care about something, I’ll say it freely,” he said.
The issue at hand may not have seemed to be a monumental (it was about a letter a group of teachers were sending to the editor of a local newspaper), but that didn’t stop Flatto from politely telling the group of about 50 people that he disagreed with them.
Being somewhat soft-spoken and having a bit of a slouch in your walk may not sound like the characteristics of a great politician, but even opponents of Flatto will tell you that he is, if nothing else, just that: a great politician. Flatto has called himself the “un-politician,” but most who have met him will be hard pressed to agree.
“An un-politician? No, I don’t agree,” said John Metsopoulos, the former First Selectman of Fairfield. “I think that he understands politics very well. He’s very good at organizing his people.”
Metsopoulos should know. He has run against Flatto on two separate occasions: first in 1999, in which he defeated Flatto and became First Selectman of Fairfield, and then in 2001, when Flatto exacted revenge, defeating him. Metsopoulos may think Flatto makes a good politician today, but Flatto reiterates that he is not the average elected official.
“I was an accountant for 20 years,” explained Flatto. “I was an extremely shy guy in college. It took years of a lot of real effort to become a public speaker.”
He may have been shy, but Flatto was still always involved in politics. He was a member of the Student Forum during his four years at Lehigh University, and he was the president of two community groups in New York City during those 20 years of being a certified public accountant. When he and his family moved to Fairfield in the early 90s, Flatto wnted to get involved.
“I just loved Fairfield,” said Flatto. “I became a member of the Board of Selectmen in 1995, and then I won First Selectman in 1997. Everything was going wonderful.”
That is, until the aforementioned loss in 1999 to Metsopoulos.
“There was a period there where I didn’t want to ever run again,” said Flatto. “I was very surprised I lost. There was a combination of hurt and anger. I got another job and moved on.”
Soon, though, politics crept back into Flatto’s life. About six months after his defeat, a supporter sent out an anonymous letter to some of Flatto’s constituents and fellow democrats, asking if they thought Flatto should run for First Selectman again. The replies to the letter all supported him giving it another shot.
“I went though a soul-searching process. I knew I found myself disagreeing with a lot of what Metsopoulos was saying and doing,” said Flatto. “So, I decided to try it again. When I lost in ’99, I really let it get to me emotionally. I told myself that this time, whatever happened, happened.”
What happened was Flatto defeated Metsopoulos, and has gone on to bring about some very big changes in Fairfield, including being one of the biggest supporters of a $64 million plan to bring two high schools to the town.
“I voted for Ken, and I support him a great deal,” said Robert Maresca, a Fairfield resident. “I think the high school plan is just one of the positive things for Fairfield he has been involved with.”
Flatto isn’t looking to leave anytime soon. “I’m having the time of my life in Fairfield,” said Flatto. “I love being able to make a difference, locally. A lot of times, with a higher office, you don’t get to see the changes you help bring about.”
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