Marcia Chambers Photo.
When Jamie Cosgrove was elected to the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) on the Republican ticket in 2009, his grandfather, Dan Cosgrove, took him aside to impart some words of wisdom on the art of politics. “It’s better to remain quiet and let them think you are a fool then to get up and speak and remove all doubts.”
Cosgrove, 38, said he has followed his grandfather’s advice. He interpreted it to mean that he should “know the issues before you speak.” Over the last two years on the RTM, Jamie Cosgrove has emerged as an articulate speaker on various topics. He says one has to study the issues first, although studying an issue doesn’t always mean the Democrats across the aisle will agree with his interpretation.
Now the young Cosgrove, the first in the family since Dan Cosgrove to enter Branford’s political world, is seeking a seat on the Board of Selectmen. He is not seeking the top job yet, Joy McConnell, a medical transcriber, is doing that. But there is little doubt that given his name and his backing, he might one day run for first selectman.
Switching Parties
Jamie Cosgrove is a Republican now, but he said in an interview that he doesn’t believe that party affiliation is all that important. He may have learned that at his grandfather’s knee. Grandfather Dan Cosgrove, now 94, was a powerhouse in the Democratic Party for half a century, founded the Taxpayer’s party in Branford in 1989 and a couple of years back told the Eagle he was now an Independent. Dan Cosgrove served on the Board of Selectman after winning a spot as a Taxpayer candidate.
Like his grandfather, Jamie Cosgrove has switched parties. And now he seems to be moving toward the center. While he is now a Republican, he started out as a Democrat. And from his perspective, what party one aligns with is not all that important.
He said he likes government and as a resident began to attend board of selectmen meeting some years back. As a resident, he occasionally spoke from the floor. Republican Third Selectman John Opie said he noticed when Cosgrove began to speak to some issues.
“It was actually John Opie who asked if I had an interest in the RTM. At the time I was a registered Democrat. Originally I was just going to run as an independent. Then I decided if I was going to run, I wanted to be part of a party,” he said in a breakfast interview at Scotty’s, where he is a regular. He went with the Republicans, he said, because he felt more comfortable with them, but he is quick to add that party affiliation should take a back seat “when it comes to doing the best for a small town.”
From his viewpoint, party ideology, one way or the other, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. “I would rather speak on a rational level about the issues. This is a town we all live in. “He said he was not discouraged when he discovered in 2009 that only nine Republicans of the 30 RTM members had won office. “ I felt if you spoke rationally, people will listen. Unfortunately I think there are a number of those on the RTM who won’t listen to logic but will vote the party line,” he said, referring to some of the 21 Democrats across the aisle.
He observed how the RTM is physically set-up, with Republicans at a table on one side of the room and Democrats at a table facing them. “I think just the way it is set up creates a conflict. Others have said this too. What If people were mixed up among one another? I would be curious to see how that would work, “he said. “Otherwise it is our side against their side. Obviously each side knows what it wants to do beforehand, they caucus beforehand. But obviously psychologically it might be very different if we sat people from different parties next to each other.”
Cosgrove The Elder
Grandfather Dan Cosgrove would likely chuckle at that thought. In the ‘50s and ‘60s and ‘70s Cosgrove mapped strategy for the town’s major boards and commissions, including the Sewer Authority, which he chaired, from his main office or “garage” at Cosgrove Construction Co., 164 North Main St.
The elder Cosgrove, now 94, was a master builder whose ingenuity led to the creation of the Long Wharf complex in New Haven. His vast accumulation of land in Branford led to the building of its industrial parks, malls and condos. He shaped the modern landscape of Branford, often using a manner that was both combative and coy. He had many friends and many enemies. You crossed him at your peril. He was the “Boss of Branford” at a time when deals were proudly made in back rooms. Click here to read about him.
Jamie Cosgrove now occupies Cosgrove Construction where he serves as the company’s project manager. He doesn’t put up buildings; he prepares sites for them. He enjoys his work, he said.
When Jamie was growing up in Branford, his grandfather was the powerful leader of the12th District Democratic Central Committee, a position he held for more than 20 years. Dan Cosgrove became a passionate Democrat in 1939 and stayed one for 50 years, until 1989 when he formed the Taxpayer’s party. Jamie was 16 at the time.
He remembers that as a kid that his last name elicited responses, one way or the other. “How do you deal with that as a kid? They hear your last name, they say something, they make a comment,” he recalled.
“I was born in 1973 and I was raised here.” He was in high school when his grandfather was still actively engaged in politics.
“It is not what I want my kids to experience. I have a wife and two daughters, ages 7 and 2. I live here and I want to stay here. And that is why I am getting involved in Branford government. I want the town to stand tall.” His wife, Nicole Kearns Cosgrove, is an elementary school teacher in West Haven.
Jamie Cosgrove is not combative like his grandfather but he can be a forceful speaker. He argues well, he smiles broadly, he seems open to ideas. He likes logic.
He cares deeply about the public schools. He was educated in them and his oldest daughter, Ava, goes to Mary Murphy Elementary School. He understands teacher’s contracts and salary increases and the need for them because his wife is a teacher. His grandfather, on the hand, railed eloquently against the excesses of school boards, particularly as enrollment declined.
“I was the only one who wanted to get involved in the construction end. I enjoy it. To make a living at it, you need to enjoy it. There were seven kids in my family – four sisters and two brothers and me. My youngest sister is in high school now. I have a brother Kevin who is ten years younger than I. My sisters and brothers live in different places, he said. His father, also a Dan, was one of three of Dan and Alice Cosgrove’s children. The others are Susan Barnes, who lives with her dad and a third brother.
Lessons from His Grandfather
Jamie Cosgrove learned many things from his grandfather, he said, including how to make distinctions. “Obviously there was a lot of talk about politics all the time.” He said his grandfather might not believe in your beliefs but outside politics he didn’t hold it against you as a person. “He might think you were a fool in the political arena, for example, but he didn’t hold against you as a person.”
He also instilled certain beliefs, Jamie said, for example, “work hard and you will be rewarded. That was how he lived his life. My grandfather has always been very generous to his community and that is definitely something I respect. He is very successful. Hospice is very important to him. Giving back is important to him. His church, the animal shelter, to name a few. “
But Cosgrove is not quite a chip off the old block. He likes open space, for example, and the efforts the town has taken to preserve it, not a topic dear to Dan Cosgrove’s heart.
“For a number of years we did a great job on open space. I enjoy what we have in Branford. But I think that like anything else there needs to be balance. And looking at the committees and commissions we have, it is definitely lop-sided,” Jamie Cosgrove said.
It is too early to tell what impact the younger Cosgrove will have on the modern landscape his grandfather wove together. First, there is not much landscape left. However, there are some large sections of land at exit 53 and 56 whose fates have yet to be decided.
DaRos & Development
Development is a big campaign issue for the Republicans in the 2011 campaign. Cosgrove said the “Unk” DaRos administration is “not pro-active” when it comes to development, not an assessment with which DaRos, who is seeking a sixth term in office, agrees. Cosgrove says the town “does a great job studying what we want to do, the targeted industry study, the planning and conservation study, but we do a poor job implementing these plans.”
DaRos has presided over the major renovation of the town’s buildings and the creation, now underway, of a state-of-the art fire station. He has said he wants to make the Amtrak Bridge area conducive to development, which depends in part on realigning exit 53 at I‑95. A $75 million federal reconstruction project is now underway at the bridge site.
Cosgrove replies: “That’s what we keep hearing. We have to wait until Amtrak is finished to put in commercial and retail buildings. We have to wait for the state, we have to realign Exit 53. We have to wait for the photo op. Meanwhile, we need more industrial activity to help the tax base. If you want manufacturing, as Andy Campbell says he does, why aren’t you doing something to promote it?” Campbell, an attorney, is running as Democratic second selectman candidate, after having served as a current and former RTM member for six years. Click here to read about him and DaRos.
Cosgrove conceded that Branford “is doing better than most towns.” But he argues, DaRos “is not giving tax incentives to bring companies to town. It is to our advantage to bring industry to Branford. “
He says he is aware that people may shudder when they hear the word development. “They want to keep things the way they are. …To be honest with you, first of all you can’t remain stagnant. Anything that remains stagnant is dead. Yes, we care about open space. That won’t be lost. We are trying to preserve a sense of community and do it in a smart way,” he said. In that way he sounds like his democratic counterpart.
Meanwhile his grandfather applauds his run for selectman, a position he held on the board of selectman as a member of the Taxpayer Party during Republican Judy Gott’s administration. “He is happy I am running. He said go for it.”
In a family that has changed political parties and invented new ones, running as a Republican is not a big deal one way or another for Dan Cosgrove, Jamie said.
Dan Cosgrove was one of the first members of the RTM after the town charter was approved in 1958. “I got on fifty years later,” Jamie Cosgrove noted. He thinks the RTM is a fine institution, he said as leaves in the hope he will win Nov. 8 and become one of three members of the board of selectman.
One key question is whether Jamie Cosgrove will run for first selectman sometime down the road. Is that a possibility, hypothetically, we ask. “I don’t know if Joy is going to give up her seat, he quipped, referring to his running mate Joy McConnell. “Hypothetically, I couldn’t answer that question. There are a lot of factors to consider.”
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