The oath of office was taken yesterday by the new First Selectman of Newtown.  Democrat Dan Rosenthal was sworn in at Edmond Town Hall. 

Rosenthal believes the local budget planning process has to start early, with a focus on controlling spending. He doesn't think Newtown has the luxury of hiking taxes any further.

With state funding, he says the expectation should be that Connecticut is not going to kick in additional revenue.  Rosenthal says the goal should be, over time, to create autonomy from the state. Rosenthal says the several-month long impasse should be used as a warning shot over the bow to try to wean Newtown off of state aid.

Rosenthal wants to bring business planning to other capital projects, examining how many people each one would reach and what's the potential revenue. He doesn’t believe the town has the luxury for “wants” and building things in the hopes that people come.