Political observers have said his victory in Tuesday's municipal election represented the second time that he has directed a campaign that brought about major change in Brookfield's local government, since he was the major force behind Republicans United For Brookfield, which assembled a huge list of potential contacts that helped elect Jerry Murphy as first selectman in 2003.
"Between the time Bonnie Smith lost in November 2001 in her comeback attempt and the time that Jerry Murphy was elected in November of 2003, nobody did more to change the political landscape of Brookfield than Bill Davidson," said former Democratic Selectman Richard Amorossi, referring to two former GOP first selectmen.
Mr. Davidson, who sold Davidson Insurance Services in Danbury in late 2001 while he was still serving as the chairman of the Board of Finance, devoted considerable energy to getting Mr. Murphy elected after he had reservations about Republican First Selectman Martin Foncello, who had strained relations with some of the municipal boards and was spending considerable money on municipal legal fees.
The incoming first selectman, who served on the finance board from 1988 to 2003, said in a 2003 interview that as a result of the discussion s that began earlier that year Republicans that had been on opposite sides of a political tug-of-war that has gripped the local GOP since the mid-1990s discovered that they had "misperceptions" about each other.
Mr. Davidson served for one term as one of the other selectmen on the three-member board, chairing ad-hoc task forces, including one that helped create a tax credit and deferral program to assist senior citizens. "He brought together people on that senior citizens tax credit committee like Irv Agard, Howard Lasser, Dave Keefe and John Berger, who had diverse opinions, and they created a program that helped the seniors," Mr. Amorossi said.
Mr. Lasser was Mr. David­son's running mate this year and won a seat on the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Agard was an active volunteer for the Republican candidate for first selectman, Bill Tinsley, and won a seat on the finance board. Mr. Berger, a civic volunteer, has led drives to lower taxes and Mr. Keefe is a longtime member of the Brookfield Lions Club.
"We haven't always agreed, but we haven't been disagreeable," said Mr. Lasser, who was vice chairman of the finance board from late 1995 until late 2001 while Mr. Davidson was the chairman. "Bill recognizes that there are valid points on all sides of an issue and finds where there is the best consensus for the town," he said.
"He's a moderate who interacts with people and isn't driven by personal ambition," Mr. Amorossi said. "He also is closer in government philosophy to Bonnie Smith and Jerry Murphy than any of the candidates for first selectman this year, and I consider Bonnie and Jerry to be the two best first selectmen of the last 20 years."
Mr. Davidson, who changed his registration to unaffiliated in April after being a Republican for decades, is the first Democratic nominee to win an election for first selectman since the late Ken Keller was elected to the second of his two terms in 1985.
"He's going to be an excellent first selectman," said Mr. Murphy, who served as first selectman from late 2003 to late 2007 and is completing a term as one of the other selectmen. "He did a superb job and was very supportive of me while he was on the board."
Mr. Davidson had given consideration to running for first selectman in early 2003 and opted instead to seek one of the other seats on the board, apparently because he wanted to be active in government but didn't want the burden at that time of a position that usually requires at least 60 hours of work each week.
He and his wife, Marge, a former president of the Brookfield League of Women Voters and former vice chairman of the Board of Selectmen's ad-hoc Long Range Planning Committee, also have devoted time to taking vacation trips and visiting family members.
Mr. Davidson has said he plans to ride his bike to work at the town hall on sunny days and, when possible, go for a ride during his lunch hour.
With a bachelor's degree from Columbia University, Mr. Davidson has been noted for his mastery of municipal issues. During the campaign he provided charts regarding the town's projected debt service for the coming years and discussed equalized tax rates, which provided insight on how Brookfield's tax burden compared with those of other suburban towns in the Greater Danbury area.
Mr. Davidson left the Board of Selectmen after one term, apparently to, among other things, devote more time to his recreational pursuits. However, less than two months after his term ended he was appointed by the selectmen to a seat on the Lake Lillinonah Authority (LLA). He has a longstanding concern regarding the lake's condition from the accumulation of algae. He currently serves as chairman of the LLA.
Beginning at the start of the current term of the Board of Selectmen, Mr. Davidson spoke several times during the public comment portion of the meetings on several topics. He told the selectmen last year that Brookfield, where he has lived since 1973, needed to have a discussion about whether it wanted more economic development and lower the burden on residential taxpayers, even though it might mean additional traffic, or keep its commercial tax base at 15 percent of all revenues and make a commitment to provide more money through residential taxes for capital projects.
Mr. Davidson has long supported the development of the 198-acre Village District business center near the Four Corners intersection of Federal Road but added that he would seek to find alternate sources of revenue, such as using municipal property for cellular phone communications.
"The local economy will improve, the national economy will improve and this is a fairly affluent town," he said. "Federal Road will develop. But we need to find alternate sources of income. ... How can we find revenue so that we can help the grand list next year and have a reasonable budget next year with a moderate tax increase," Mr. Davidson said.
He was frequently seen wearing a Phillies cap in recent months to symbolize his support for the 2008 World Champions. Mr. Davidson grew up in a suburb of Philadelphia and said his 98-year-old father and a brother still live in that area. He was president of senior class in high school and recently attended the 50th class reunion.
He and his wife, who is from Long Island, N.Y., have been married for 45 years and they have two daughters, Jennifer, a world languages teacher at Newtown High School, and Jill, who is a publications director for a national education organization. Mr. Davidson worked in several senior positions for the Insurance Company of North America before starting Davidson Insurance Services in 1981.
Mr. Davidson said in an interview last year that shortly after departing First Selectman Robert Silvaggi took office in December 2007 he met with him at the town hall to discuss the direction of the municipal government and caution him to consider the opinions of all of the residents. After that, he spoke during the public comment portion of some of the selectmen's meetings and helped form a political action committee, the Brookfield Partnership, which posted information that compared, for example, Brookfield's municipal spending with that of other area towns.
Mr. Amorossi said that he believes that part of the reason for Mr. Davidson's victory is that voters believed that he would develop more harmony in the municipal government following the last two years when there was, at times, strained relations between Mr. Silvaggi and the other two selectmen-Mr. Murphy and Democrat Joni Park, who also serves as the local party chairman.
Mr. Davidson said in an interview last year that the establishment of the political action committee came in response to what the members viewed as misinformation on municipal issues that had been distributed to the public.
He said in an interview on election night that a year ago he had no plans of running for first selectmen, but early this year he discussed the possibility of running with his wife because of his concern about the town's "downward spiral" as voters became more resistant to tax increases to fund capital projects, such as road repairs.
"I couldn't have predicted a year ago that this would happen," he said regarding his campaign and the decision to seek the Republican nomination for first selectmen and then instead run on the Democratic ticket and win a two-year term in the town's top elected position.