Politics & Government

Town Council and Town Manager Richard Branigan Make 'Amicable Split'

Richard Branigan's last day of Town Manager for the Town of North Branford was yesterday as he moves on to pursue other career opportunities.

For the past four years, has been North Branford’s . Yesterday marked Branigan’s last day with the town as he and the Town Council agreed to terminate the contract.

“It was an amicable, mutual split,” said , who is also a member of the , which is scheduled to present its proposed changes at the . “Richard will be pursuing other professional opportunities.”

One proposed change that can affect the hire of a new town manager is that it will be up to the Town Council to choose whether the town manager is also a town resident. The town’s current charter says the town manager must reside in the town. Branigan currently lives in North Haven.

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Candelora said that Town Engineer Kurt Weiss, who has worked in the town for 23 years, will fill in as town manager until an interim town manager can be hired, which Candelora expects to happen by the end of the month. The Town Council will then form a search committee and advertise the position.

“We’re trying to do this as soon as possible,” said Candelora.

Find out what's happening in North Branfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Though Branigan, who has worked in the field for more than 30 years, is looking forward to a new chapter in his life, leaving his post is bittersweet.

“I’ll miss working with the professional staff–they are very dedicated, very conscientious and very committed and dedicated in their professions,” he said. “I’ve been doing this work for a long time and this is one of the best groups I’ve ever worked with.”

Branigan said highlights of his tenure with the town include $45 million in construction projects–including the two libraries and the intermediate school–that were brought in under budget and ahead of schedule, refunding millions of dollars of debt to save the town $4.2 million in long-term debt expenses, implemented a , setting the into motion with $1.2 million of state funding and to “make for a better facility for the town.”

In addition to his day job, Branigan is the president of Kids for Kids Dancing for Life, which has inspired him to possibly move his career from the public to non-profit sector. His family is also very involved in the non-profit, which he said has given away approximately $70,000 over the last 20 years.

“It’s something we do as a family–it’s in our blood,” said Branigan. “If there’s an opportunity to do professionally what I do voluntarily, that’s the kind of thing that would get me excited.” 


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