By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker, on her third day in office, told TEAM Westport on Thursday she supports its mission to make the town a place where everyone feels they belong.

But, she acknowledged, “We have work to do.”

Tooker, who previously served on TEAM — Together Effectively Achieving Multiculturalism — in her role as second selectwoman, joined the virtual meeting via Zoom.

Harold Bailey, the group’s longtime chairman, welcomed Tooker and underscored TEAM’s mission, saying, “Our focus has been welcoming, making Westport more welcoming with respect to race, religion, ethnicity, LGBTQIA.

“But the real focus has been on every citizen in the town of Westport.”

For TEAM, Bailey said, that means trying to “get rid of the hurdles that are there that would make people feel unwelcome, or would make people feel like they don’t belong here,” whether those circumstances exist “unconsciously, or consciously in some cases.”

So, he added, “that’s where we’ve been and that’s led us to the DEI [Diversity, Equality and Inclusion] statement that the town has put together,” Bailey said. 

He described the statement as “not just a bunch of words that are thrown out there with wonderful, nice phrases and commitments with nothing behind them.

“It’s undergirded by that three-plus years of commitment in places like the police force, where we have the commitment about national certifications, and in hiring, where we had commitments from the town of Westport about actually pro-actively pursuing or hiring to get a more diverse workforce.”

He credited adoption of the DEI statement to the three members of the last Board of Selectman, including Tooker, and “that’s one of the things I wanted to surface this morning in welcoming our new first selectman, who is joining us this morning.” 

Tooker said it was nice to see many familiar faces, albeit on Zoom, and that since assuming command three days earlier, she had a long conversation with a TEAM Westport member about a range of topics, including the Civilian Review Panel.

That appointed panel — Tooker also was a member of that group — became a flashpoint for controversy last summer when petitioners pressed the Representative Town Meeting to establish, by ordinance, a Civilian Police Review Board, with broader powers to review complaints against police and other emergency responders. That effort was ultimately rejected.

“I’m very much looking forward to working with you all over the next four years, and supporting and championing all the work that you do on behalf of the town,” Tooker said. “I’m really, really grateful for all the work you’ve done to date.” 

The new first selectwoman also acknowledged, “We do talk a lot in this community about wanting everybody to feel like they belong, and that this is somewhere that they feel comfortable and safe.

“And, you know, we have work to do,” she added. “And I look forward to joining you in that effort.”