Eileen Lavigne Flug, moderator of Westport Representative’s Town Meeting (RTM), for almost four years, will be appointed assistant town attorney in August, replacing Gail Kelly who is leaving that post at the end of July, First Selectman Jim Marpe and Town Attorney Ira Bloom announced today.
Eileen Flug:: “a great honor.”Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Flug’s appointment comes as she joins the firm Berchem, Moses & Devlin, P.C. as senior counsel. Most recently she has been with Cohen & Wolf, P.C.
“I am very pleased to appoint Eileen Lavigne Flug as the new assistant town attorney beginning in August,” said Marpe. “Eileen is widely respected in town, has an excellent understanding of town government, and has a distinguished legal background.
“We have had the opportunity to work together closely during the past three-and-a-half years in our respective town leadership roles, so I know that she will add tremendous value to the town through her new responsibilities,” he added.
Bloom, a partner at Berchem Moses, & Devlin and town attorney for 19 years, said he was happy to have her join the firm, and he lauded Flug’s pending appointment.
He called her “the ideal candidate for the job, given her knowledge of Westport government and her legal experience in several challenging positions.”
“I know she will be a great addition to the Town Attorney’s office and to our law firm in general,” Bloom said.
In the announcement, Flug called it “a great honor to take this position.”
She later told WestportNow that after 12 years serving on the RTM, she looks forward to new challenges as the assistant town attorney.
“I have a great deal of respect for the town’s employees and its elected and appointed officials and am glad that I’ll be working with them at Town Hall in a new role,” she said.
“In some respects it will be a continuation of the work I’ve been doing as moderator of the RTM, where part of my role is researching and explaining the rules that govern the RTM.
“With my legal training, that has been a part of the role of moderator that I have enjoyed the most, in addition to working with such excellent people.”
Flug graduated from Pepperdine University School of Law in 1988 where she was editor in chief of the Pepperdine Law Review and valedictorian of her class.
Her legal career started at the prominent firm of Arnold & Porter in Washington, DC. She later became general counsel to a beverage distributor and supplier in New York.
In addition, she currently serves on a number of local, nonprofit organizations.
Deputy RTM Moderator Velma Heller will take over the RTM moderator position pending election of a new moderator and deputy moderator.
Kelly announced plans to leave the assistant town attorney position earlier this month after 15 years on the job. (See WestportNow June 14, 2017)
—James Lomuscio
