In honor of Women's History Month, we want to recognize and introduce a few of our brave and dedicated Greenwich police officers. 

We also had a great turnout for the St. Patrick's Day parade and were able to march together from Town Hall. 

There is a lot of misinformation being spread by the Democrats on school capital projects. Here are the facts:

Capital Budget

The BET passed a record-setting budget.  Unfortunately, the BOE is in turmoil.  Currently the BOE has over 120 projects totaling over $61 million.  Many of these are outstanding and much of that $61 million has not yet been spent. The Central Middle School (CMS) spending alone will more than double this.  But for CMS the situation is worse: the Education Specifications developed by the BOE have been called “impossible” by the architect hired to design the building. This needs to get resolved in a realistic manner.  Attempting to rush this will invariably result in further delays and overspending.

With regard to Old Greenwich School, the Republican BET added $1.5 million for ADA and sewage. They also advanced the A&E for $1.1 million (with conditions and new estimate).  Until Old Greenwich School is properly examined, adding $35-40 million for renovation should not be considered without a complete cost analysis. In the meantime, the sewage issues at Old Greenwich School will not be tied to the renovation. 

The Republican BET also proactively added $800,000 to address ADA at Riverside School. The BOE has not made this a priority so the BET took it upon themselves to do so. 

Central Middle School

The Republican BET voted to allocate a generous $70 million in capital for the Central Middle School budget, as originally budgeted in 2022. This budget would allow for roughly a 100,000 square foot school that would be at least 25% larger in size and still more than 2x the budget the state prescribes for this project.

In the fall of 2022, the Republican BET member on the CMS building committee raised concerns about the scope and budget of the project. The committee, led by Democrat and former DTC Chair, Tony Turner, has now lost control of scope and budget. At a recent committee meeting, the BOE and their selected firm, Construction Solutions Group (CSG), hired for $14,999, had miscalculated the size they were recommending.  The size, based on BOE requirements, has blown up to 140,000 square feet, which is a shocking 75% LARGER than state guidelines.  Greenwich Time covered the mismanagement in detail. The BOE knew of the oversized Ed Specs back when they voted to approve them last summer. Where is the accountability? Despite this debacle, the BOE Chair along with BOE Democrats refuse to cooperate and are now proposing a school that guarantees the budget will blow up to over $100 million.

State projections show school age population will continue to decline by over 15% through 2040 (see chart above). Independent experts at UConn agree.  The BOE ignored these expert projections and is requesting a school for 50% MORE students than we will ever see by 2040.  

For what? A supersized school does not help educate our children.  A supersized school ties up capital and costs more to operate and maintain. This guarantees higher taxes for years to come. Not to mention it is environmentally irresponsible. It is this kind of misguided oversight by the BOE that has taken the focus off of education, thus having a negative effect on our students' academic performance. One third of our GPS students read below grade level. That is unacceptable. 

We thank our BET Republicans for holding the line on this project at $70 million.

Old Greenwich School

The Republicans on the BET Budget Committee made a motion to add $2.5 million to immediately address all ADA (accessibility) and sewage flooding issues at Old Greenwich School. The Democrats voted AGAINST accessibility and against addressing the sewage flooding this year. On April 4th, the Republican BET moved forward, allocating $1.5 million for ADA and sewage. They also advanced the A&E for $1.1 million (with conditions and new estimate). 

The Old Greenwich school renovation was never in the capital budget this year.  However, during the BET Budget hearings last month, the BOE Chair and Superintendent requested this project be prioritized and included in this year’s capital budget at a cost of $40 million. Republicans agree that Old Greenwich should be prioritized – however, they do not agree with the price tag that is being requested.

The OGS feasibility study put renovations at $24.5 million adjusted to 2024 prices.  This included a 10% contingency and 18% for architecture and other management costs, and included $3 million in optional items. Yet the OGS Building Committee, led by LWV President Sandy Water’s son James Waters Jr., has put together an estimate of $40 million to do the same repairs using creative math and faulty assumptions. A new school would cost less. Greenwich Academy’s new elementary school cost $23 million and was constructed during COVID years of supply and demand constraints.

BET Republicans have suggested breaking the project into phases, ensuring ADA and sewage flooding are addressed this fiscal year, and will be adding funds to address these concerns*.  The Democrats, led by Waters, are getting support from Democrat legislators Meskers and Khanna, who are pushing the narrative that Republicans are delaying Old Greenwich. On the contrary – the Republicans are ensuring we protect taxpayer funds and are doing the work to make sure the most pressing issues are addressed this year.  Under the Democrat $40 million proposal, the repairs could not even start before 2025. Unfortunately, the Democrats are not sharing these facts with the public – they care only about narratives so they can run elections. For details and facts, read the op-ed from our Republican BET members: “Modernizing Old Greenwich School.”

We thank our BET Republicans for taking a fiscally responsible approach to addressing the needs at Old Greenwich.

*Note: It is also possible that CT School Grant funds can be applied for this purpose at any time on an emergency basis. Our BOE, School Administration and Building Committees have not been proactive enough in seeking the CT Grant reimbursements that are owed for past projects. Currently $15 million in School Construction Grant funding remains due on four completed school projects: Hamilton Avenue, Glenville School, MISA, and New Lebanon School. We must actively pursue these uncollected grants on behalf of our Greenwich taxpayers.

While we can all agree that affordable housing is a necessity, there should not be a one size fits all zoning plan to meet those needs.  8-30g is an example of how a state mandated plan has consistently failed for 30 years.  

What is 8-30g anyway?  

Housing Bill 8-30g has been in effect for 30 years and has consistently been proven not to work. Quite simply, the law states that 10% of a town's housing stock must be affordable housing.  If a town has not met the required 10%, the law allows developers to override local zoning laws, ignore setbacks and build larger units than local zoning allows as long as 30% is allotted to affordable housing.  Sounds noble - but here is the problem: if you are adding 30% affordable housing and 70% that is not subject to cost restrictions, mathematically you will never achieve your goal.  In 3 decades only 31 municipalities out of 273 have reached the required 10%. For the last 29 years no new towns have been added to the exempt list.

To learn what qualifies as that '10%', and what you can do to learn more and make a difference.... 

Last month we introduced to you what the RTM is (Representative Town Meeting); this month we would like to detail what the RTM does and how the elections for the RTM take place.

How does the RTM work?

The RTM (Representative Town Meeting) is the legislative body of the town and is made up of 230 elected members from the 12 voting districts. Members are town residents who are unpaid volunteers. Each member of the RTM represents the same number of electors.

The entire RTM meets once a month (8 times per year) on Monday evenings at 8:00PM at Central Middle School. Meetings are open to the public. Additionally, each district meets separately once a month. Members are also expected to join a town committee (ie; Finance, Parks and Rec, Land Use, Public Works, etc. ). Each district elects a chair, a vice chair and a secretary. 

Stay Tuned In 

There are several ways in which you can continue to learn and be informed of what is happening in Greenwich. 

Greenwich TV (GCTV), which is operated mostly by volunteers, provides live broadcast coverage of various Town government meetings (such as First Selectman, RTM, Planning & Zoning, and BET meetings).

1. They are broadcast on Channel 79 (Cablevision/Altice) and Channel 24 (Verizon). 

2. Greenwich Community TV on YouTube. 

3. Greenwichtv.org - the GCTV website streams as all as rebroadcasts programming throughout the week and keeps extensive archives for easy viewing accessibility. 

Connect & Learn

We will be hosting local coffees where we can gather, learn & discuss together. If you would like more information on upcoming coffees please sign up here:  

We celebrate with our families, neighbors and friends three religious holidays reminding us of sacrifices made for freedom, hope and faith.

We wish you and your family happy Passover, happy Easter and happy Ramadan!

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