Edward M. O’Brien was elected the 11th Mayor of the city of West Haven- Connecticut’s youngest city- in 2013 and re-elected in 2015-17. As Mayor, he was a non-voting member of the City Council and the Board of Education. Before taking office, Ed O’Brien, a lifelong resident of West Haven, was the founder and owner of GoldWorks at 499 Campbell Ave., a jewelry manufacturing and retail shop that has operated in the heart of the downtown business district for more than 25 years. Ed O’Brien currently is in Management at Utility Communications in Hamden, CT overseeing all services of the company.
The Mayor, a proud “Westie” and 1982 alumnus of West Haven High School, graduated from The Ezra F. Bowman School in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, an institution “dedicated to the training and education of skilled craftsmen.” He then graduated from the prestigious Gemological Institute of America in New York City.
Former Mayor O’Brien has been active in West Haven politics for the better part of two decades. He is a former three-term councilman, who was elected to the City Council in 2005 and was Chairman of the 2009-11 session. As an At-Large Councilman, he was Majority Leader of the 2007-09 session and was Chairman of the Redevelopment Committee, the Streets and Squares Committee, the Health, Welfare and Safety Committee and the Education Committee. As a member of the Democratic Town Committee he served the 8th District from 2003-2017.
Former Mayor O’Brien served on the Community Development and Housing Standing Committee and the International Affairs Standing Committee of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He sat on the Hazard Mitigation Advisory Committee of the South Central Regional Council of Governments and the West Haven Office of Emergency Management. He also served on the Board of Directors of the American Heart Association and the Tennis Foundation of Connecticut. Former Mayor O’Brien was appointed by the State House of Representatives to serve on the Task Force for Humane Treatment of Animals in Municipal and Regional Shelters and served on the Chief Elected Officials Executive Committee of Workforce Alliance. He was Secretary of the South Central Connecticut Regional Emergency Communications System, formerly known as CMED and served as the Chairman of MEDCOM, the agency that is in charge of ambulance dispatch in New Haven County.
Former Mayor O’Brien’s strong civic ties include serving on the Savin Rock Fireworks Committee and the West Haven High School PTSA. He is a member of the West Haven Irish-American Club and the West Haven Elks Lodge 1537. Previously, Former Mayor O’Brien served on the Bailey Middle School PTSA and the West Haven Business Association. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the West Haven Community House and on the Board of Directors at St. Lawrence School in West Haven.
As a result of his focus on Economic Development in West Haven, Former Mayor O’Brien was one of the eight Mayors throughout the country chosen by the National Endowment for the Arts, The United States Conference of Mayors, and the American Architectural Foundation, to participate in the Mayors Institute on City Design Conference for 2016.
Former Mayor O’Brien enjoys spending time with his family. He resides on Platt Avenue with his wife of 32 years, Roberta Madden O’Brien. They have two children, Caitlin O’Brien, who earned her BA from the University of Tampa and her MFA from the New York Academy of Art, and David O’Brien, who is a sophomore at Hofstra University.