First African American Woman Runs For Branford Public Office

Roberta (Bobi) Gill-Brooks is making Branford history this election year as she becomes the first African American woman to seek public office in the upcoming election Nov. 7. She is running for tax collector on the Democratic ticket. She also believes strongly in what she calls her ​“family tree” of public service to the town of Branford.

Her family made history when her great-great grandfather John Williams was recruited in 1910 from North Carolina by Malleable Iron Fittings (MIF) to work at its plant on the Branford River. Hers is one of the town’s most prominent African American families and one of the town’s first.

The MIF decision to recruit from the south drew the first African American families to Branford and began a legacy of public service. Gill-Brooks’s father, Bob Gill, served the Branford Police Department for 44 years, rising through the ranks to become its police chief. Bob Gill once worked at MIF, too. “A lot of cultural history goes with this place,” Bob Gill once said of the factory.

Joe Chandler, a lifetime best friend of her father and godfather to her brother, John Gill, was the first African American man to run for public office in Branford. Chandler was a long-serving member of the Branford Board of Education, as well as its chair in the 1970s. He was also inducted into the Branford Sports Hall of Fame and the Branford Education Hall of Fame. Her godfather, Albert Washington, Jr., was the first African American police officer in Branford. In 1965, he became the first African American Connecticut State Trooper. And in the sports world, in 1932, her paternal great-uncle,  Heb Williams, captained Branford High School’s undefeated and unscored upon football team.

“Now it’s my turn,” she says smiling. 

An executive manager and advocate at AT&T for 30 years, Gill-Brooks, now retired from AT&T, says she has overseen multi-million dollar accounts and is fluent in customer advocacy, account management, and billing dispute investigations and resolution. She says the tax collector’s position is a perfect fit for her. “I am able to put my customers at ease – making them understand that they are being heard, and finding answers to their concerns.” She also has great energy and enthusiasm for stepping into public life.

The Hammers and the Hitchcocks

Some of her earliest memories involve her grandmother, Mary McKiver, who worked as a domestic for two of Branford’s most prestigious white families, the Hammers (he was the president of MIF and his wife Lucy was a gifted legislator, first in the Connecticut House and then in the Senate) and the Hitchcocks, who owned Atlantic Wire.

“I can remember as a very little girl sitting on a stool in Mrs. Hammer’s kitchen and my grandmother was setting up the dining room for a dinner. My grandmother was placing the plates and placing the silver, very meticulously on the table. The wine and water glasses were just so many inches from the knife. And that’s how I learned all of that, from watching her. I am now a nut for setting a table because I learned all this from my grandmother.
“She was treated very well and was devoted to both of those families and both of those families loved her dearly,” Gill-Brooks said in an interview with the Eagle.

This is the first time Gill-Brooks has run for public office. She is 54. Her Republican opponent, Sandra Krause, 61, has extensive experience in finance as well, having had a career in a large corporation as well as working for a small privately held business. She sits on the town’s Inland Wetland’s Commission and is a leader of the town’s Garden Club. Her nomination in July by the Republican caucus was not without conflict within the Republican Party. Click here to read about it. 

Both women are seeking the tax collector’s position that Joanne Cleary, a Democrat, has held for the past 12 years. Cleary was cross-endorsed in the 2013 and 2015 elections by both Democrats and Republicans. Last week Cleary endorsed Gill-Brooks.

Qualifications for the Job

Gill-Brooks says she has had long-term experience in putting customers at ease. “I look forward to working with Branford residents, talking with them to better understand their specific circumstances, and finding answers to their specific tax inquiries. Having a background in billing and in accounting helps. Math is math. I understand the importance of disciplined adherence to the tax statutes, and the ability to explain them. The Tax Collector’s office is the first contact a resident has when they enter Branford Town Hall. Having a positive experience there is paramount.

“The more important part is being customer friendly … I want taxpayers to know that they can come in and ask questions if they think there are grounds for an appeal. If you never ask, the answer is always no. As I have said in many ‘Meet and Greet’ events, behind each one of these bills is a family and a situation. If there are issues let’s talk about them. Let’s see what our options are.”

She went on to say that a saying by the Dalai Lama resonates with her. “Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.”

Gill-Brooks says she has learned a lot about herself and the town of Branford during the campaign.

She is spending her days going door to door and putting up lawn signs that say, ​“Where’s There’s a Gill There’s a Way.” She credits a good friend with coming up with the slogan.

“I love Branford, am proud to be a product of this great town, and would like to give back to the town that has given so much to me,” Gill-Brooks said.
She has learned a lot during the campaign, especially about Branford’s geography. ​“I would not trade this experience for anything. I have learned so much about Branford. I have lived here practically my entire life but in my own little corner and my own little chair. I was not aware of erosion down in District 5. I wasn’t aware of that until having the experience of going door-to-door.” 

Educated at Branford’s public schools, beginning at Branford Hills for kindergarten, she graduated from the town’s intermediate and high schools and then went on to college, first at Syracuse University, and then at Quinnipiac College.

She said, ​“I just feel like for my generation it’s my turn. I want to keep that tradition going. And then hopefully someone of our crew, who grew up here in Branford, 10 or 15 years from now will come behind me.

She has three sons, two she gave birth to, Tevin Wiggins and Kyle Wiggins and ​“one that I got as a bonus with my marriage.” Her husband is Theodore Brooks, Jr. and her bonus son is Ted Brooks, III. Her sons are all in their 20s. One lives in Branford, one in New Haven, and one in California.

“Should my son move back to Branford or one of my brother’s sons move back to Branford, hopefully someone behind me will be watching and will step into that line and serve Branford. It is a wonderful, wonderful town.”

Thinking about continuity, she thought of her Dad, of his roots and of Branford’s history. (Her mom, Dorothy, grew up in New Haven and came to Branford when her parents married 61 years ago.)

When the Stony Creek Brewery opened in 2015, ​“My dad was the person who put plans in motion to have a monument honoring MIF. He felt that MIF could not and should not pass into history unnoted, so he reached out to Bill O’Brien, and to town historian, Jane Bouley, to help make the memorial stone a reality and to honor the hundreds of people who worked there.”

Ed Crowley, the owner of Stony Creek Brewery, did not hesitate when O’Brien asked him and the monument was erected as his gift outside the brewery, which was built on a portion of the sprawling MIF site on Indian Neck Avenue. O’Brien is a member of the town’s Economic Development Commission (as well as a photographer for the Eagle).

An MIF Family Day was held to celebrate the role factory workers and their families played in creating the fabric of the town, a role that continues in election year 2017. Click here to read the story.
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