Late CT official remembered as fun-loving, hard-working, bipartisan

Stephen Dargan, a former 13-term state consultant from West Haven who went on to serve on the state Board of Pardons and Paroles, died Wednesday morning at 71 after an extended sickness.

Friends and former colleagues remembered Dargan for his vitality, Irish wit, skill to evaluate individuals and wily lawmaking because the longtime co-chair of the legislative Public Safety Committee. A Democrat, he was first elected in 1990 and served 26 years.

State Sen. James Maroney, D-Milford, who served within the House with Dargan, stated they sat on the identical aisle, studying main classes in bipartisanship.

“Always communicate with your (committee) ranking (member),” Maroney stated. “He lightened every room that he went into. You knew he always cared about his community in West Haven, and he was always there.”

State Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, remembered Dargan for engaged on a post-Sandy Hook regulation that will permit retired law enforcement officials to be employed as armed safety guards in state faculties. “He was really really smart and he knew his stuff,” Kissel stated on the Senate ground, recalling the 2012 tragedy during which 20 first graders and six adults had been shot to demise in Newtown.

“As much as he would joke and pull your leg, he was smart as a whip, just a really good guy,” Kissel stated of Dargan. “There was no question about Democrat, Republican, there was no question about representative or senator. Within a few weeks of going into that session (2013) that law was passed. I want to credit him for doing that. He’s always going to have a huge place in my heart.”

Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, who served within the House with Dargan, additionally recalled his humorousness. 

“Steve was larger-than-life in many ways,” Duff stated. “He was quick with a joke but took his job very seriously. There aren’t always a lot of people who just make a mark.”

Although it has been 10 years since Dargan left the House, he’s nonetheless fondly remembered on the Capitol, Duff stated. 

“I hope that people who come into this building are a little more like Steve Dargan: They take the work seriously, but they don’t take themselves too seriously. And that they understand it’s a mix of policy, relationships and sometimes a joke or two.” 

Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, D-New Haven, referred to as Dargan “a dear friend” with “a rich and ironic sense of humor in a way that was never hurtful, always celebratory, even though he was riding you a little bit or kidding you.”

Dargan “was part and parcel of the town of West Haven,” Looney stated. Dargan was additionally a longtime announcer for the West Haven High School soccer video games.

Looney stated Dargan’s humor by no means interfered with the seriousness of his function as a state lawmaker. “He had a great heart,” Looney stated.

In his work on the parole board, Dargan had a flare for gauging whether or not individuals who had been incarcerated had been prepared for launch, Looney stated. 

State Sen. John Fonfara, D-Hartford, recalled Dargan’s complaints in regards to the loud horns on barges that plied Long Island Sound close to his West Haven residence within the early mornings.

“I guess I gave him the impression that I didn’t believe him,” Fonfara stated.

“My phone rings at 3 in the morning and it’s Dargan and he says, ‘You don’t believe me, Fonfara? Listen to this.’ He puts his phone out the window so I can hear the barges. He was a good man who made us all better,” Fonfara stated. 

State Sen. Joan Hartley, D-Waterbury, served as co-chair of the Public Safety Committee with Dargan. She recalled his means of screening the small print of payments, inviting either side into his workplace to have mini-debates. “He would have each side there and he would say ‘OK, tell me where you are.’ And they would each have to defend each other.”

Dargan would finally dismiss the contributors with a attribute “bye-bye,” she stated. Dargan taught many individuals within the State Capitol that you could have political variations and nonetheless be mates throughout the aisle,  Hartley stated.

“He was a special human being,” she stated. 

Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz recalled that when she was a member of the House within the Nineties and had younger youngsters, Dargan would carry them and stroll across the House chamber with them.

“What a privilege it was to serve with him,” she stated. “There’d we be, at a late hour, and there was a lot going on because the lower chamber is not a quiet place. He’d be walking around the House, patting their back. He just loved kids. He was so much fun, and he brought a lot of joy to public service.”

Michael Lawlor, a former state consultant and shut pal of Dargan’s, in a Wednesday telephone interview, “He knew who was a phoney and who was not.”

Speaker of the House Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, advised reporters that Dargan was a longtime pal of his household, together with his father Tom Ritter, who was a speaker within the Nineties. 

Matt Ritter stated there shall be a proper recognition of Dargan within the House within the coming days. “People like Steve are why this place is great,” he stated. “He was so proud of his service here, so proud of his reputation in the public safety world. It’s a sad day.”