Town Councilor Dallas Dodge announced Monday evening that he will not run for another term this fall, and at least three people have already expressed interest in the seat.
Dodge, 35, has sat on the nine-person town council since May 2016, when he was appointed to fill the vacancy left by former Mayor Scott Slifka. Dodge then won a full, two-year term in 2017.
Dodge, whose family has lived in West Hartford for generations, said that the town has “always been a very special place for me and my family.”
“It’s been a pleasure, for the last three-plus years, to serve the town that’s given so much to me and my family,” Dodge said.
In addition to his town council position, Dodge is also a partner at Roy & Leroy, a Hartford-based state lobbying group.
But soon, Dodge will step back from his role on the town council to spend more time with his family, including his wife, Jessica, and their two young children.
“It was a very tough (legislative) session in terms of being away from family,” Dodge said. “That was really what kind of brought me to the tipping point.”
Mayor Shari Cantor said that Dodge’s experience with state government has been invaluable to the town council.
“Dallas has been an incredible addition to the council and he has brought a young family perspective, somebody that grew up in town and cares very deeply about the community,” Cantor said. “He’s been a real team member and a contributor in every way.”
Cantor said that Dodge hit one of his defining moments on the town council when he took over discussions as the town considered purchasing the site of the former University of Connecticut campus. Cantor could not participate in those discussions because she also sits on UConn’s Board of Trustees.
Cantor said she was “really thankful for (Dodge’s) leadership” during that time. The town ultimately decided not to purchase the former campus, which has since been sold to the financial technology company Ideanomics.
Democratic Town Committee Chairperson Jessica Tyburski said that, after Dodge’s announcement at Monday’s meeting, three individuals announced their interest in running for Dodge’s seat.
Those three are Board of Education chairperson Carol Blanks, Facebook weatherman John Lyons, and former attorney Janee Weber Woods.
Tyburski clarified that additional candidates can still run for Dodge’s seat and that the three interested individuals can still decide not to run for the seat. She also said that the DTC has not endorsed any potential candidate.
As a next step, the DTC will conduct interviews on Wednesday with the potential candidates and all incumbents, Tyburski said.
Tyburski said that the other eight members of the town council, excluding Dodge, have all expressed their intent to run for reelection this year.
As he prepares to leave the town council, Dodge said he would consider positions on other town boards or commissions. However, many of those positions also require a large time commitment, and Dodge said he does not have immediate plans to join any new commissions.
A previous version of this story misspelled Jessica Tyburski’s last name. This version has been updated with the correct spelling.
Emily Brindley can be reached at ebrindley@courant.com.
