Meet Sharon Wicks Dornfeld
Your Candidate for Ridgefield Board of Police Commissioners
How has your personal / professional background prepared you for this role?
The bulk of my work as an Attorney was representing children in unfortunate situations, including neglect and abuse and as victims of crimes. I interacted with the police who had investigated and with the prosecutors. I came away with enormous respect for the police officers who worked with these kids and families in some horrible situations. I bring that perspective with me to my work on the Police Commission.
My experiences have given me a good perspective on how it feels from the victim’s side, and how we want our officers to be trained to interact with the victims that they encounter. I think we do a very good job of that.
I have also served as an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Danbury, which means I bring 30 years of experience as a municipal attorney as well.
What do you think the Board’s greatest strengths are and how will you build on them?
We have the best Police Department of our size anywhere. Ridgefield has been named as one of the safest cities in the country for three years in a row. That’s outstanding. We are doing our best to continue to keep that going.
The quality of our department professionally, and the quality of the individuals who are involved in our department, is extraordinary. I could not be prouder to be associated with this department.
What are your top priorities for Ridgefield when you are elected?
My great hope in the next term is to receive approval from the voters for the public safety building. I’ve been working on this project since late 2021. Both the Fire and Police departments are in buildings over 100 years old, and we are completely out of compliance with modern requirements. The Fire Department can’t buy regular fire trucks because they don’t fit in the existing bays. There are firefighter health and safety concerns. Our Police Department is packed in the building. We have multiple people sharing small offices, even desks. Ridgefield needs a new facility.
How will you balance growth and progress while preserving Ridgefield’s character?
We want the best quality department we can have. We want to support our officers as well as we can. We try to do this with an eye on the budget. There are plenty of toys that we’d love to have, but we work with the Chief, and we don’t ask for things we don’t need.
The budget for the building may sound like a lot of money, but when you consider that we’ve nursed the existing facilities along for 100 years, this is not a luxury. It’s vital to the growth of our community. Our project falls squarely in the average cost for all these kinds of facilities.
Plus, combining the two facilities offers operational efficiencies. It’s intended to save money. You have one HVAC system, you have one electrical system, you have one plumbing system, one maintenance operation. The Police and the Fire Department do a tremendous amount of cross-training. They can share their Wellness Center as well. It comes down to 21st century policing and safety.
What are the Key Issues the Board faces?
One of the big issues Police, Fire and EMS encounter centers around our senior community. Not just calls to the care facilities, but with scams and seniors being defrauded. We’re paying a lot of attention to those matters.
The issue of traffic is also significant. We work with the State to make sure our traffic lights are in sync. Our roads were not built for the volume we have post-pandemic. Speeding, inattentive drivers, density. We are extremely conscious of all that.
What is your Leadership Style as Chair?
I try very hard to be collaborative. I think I have a very good relationship with the other members of the Commission. Everybody’s voice is heard because I do respect all of the experiences and knowledge that they bring.
What is one thing voters might be surprised to learn about you?
I have a group of gnomes who live in a house in my backyard. My eight-year-old granddaughter likes those a lot.
But more importantly, my husband and I do ASP (Appalachia Service Project) every year. It’s sort of like Habitat for Humanity, but we do home repairs in Appalachia instead of building houses from scratch. Where else can you spend a week or so with skill levels like mine, because I just finally figured out which end of the hammer to hold, where it makes a huge improvement in people’s lives? And it’s just plain fun. We get a kick out of sleeping on school gymnasium floors and hanging out with other people’s teenagers.
What sets you apart from your opponents? And why should Ridgefield trust you with another term?
I bring 30 years of experience as a municipal attorney. I’ve been up to my elbows in planning our proposed building since late November of 2021. I’ve been involved in municipal matters from planning and zoning, land use, to administrative proceedings, to representing police officers when they’re called as witnesses in cases. I have a good sense of laws regarding municipalities and different agencies in the municipality. I think those things are complementary to the other strengths and knowledge and experience I bring. But as important, I bring a passion for this job.