Campaign season is upon us, and unsurprisingly, so is the season of misinformation.

You may have received an email from our opponents claiming that if Democrats are elected to local office this November, your taxes will go up by “up to 50% in the next few years.”

That is baloney. Hogwash. Ridiculous. False.

It’s meant to keep you from looking at the current mismanagement of our town’s finances.

The bottom line is that we are not getting our money’s worth under current Republican management of our tax dollars. Smarter planning can deliver better services at lower cost. One example:

• Last year, the fire department requested $1.4 million to replace an aging fire truck. Democrats on the Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET) voted to approve it, but the Republican majority used their tie-breaking vote to block the funding
• This year, Republicans finally joined their Democratic colleagues on the BET to approve funding for the fire truck

But here’s the catch. The truck now costs $750,000 more than when the request was first made, and our families’ safety was put at risk for an extra year.

The story gets worse.  In September, all three of the town’s fire ladder trucks experienced mechanical failures and were out of service, leaving Greenwich without its own working ladder engine. Imagine what could have happened. Fortunately, our fire department secured an agreement with Stamford firefighters to come to our aid if need be.

This is typical of how our town budgeting has been managed:

1. Delay funding…
2. Let costs increase…
3. Watch town assets degrade…
4. Discover that safety risks have increased…
5. Pay a bunch more on an emergency basis.

The Republican majority on the BET has added tens of millions of dollars to the costs of repairing our schools by waiting until ceilings collapse and walls begin caving in, rather than maintaining them. There is a long list of infrastructure projects to improve fire response times, playing fields, schools and pedestrian safety that have been sitting on the back burner for years. Delay just means paying more later.  

As any homeowner knows, if there is a leak in the roof, you don’t wait for the roof to collapse before fixing it.

In Greenwich though, we wait for the collapse:

• In 2019 the Cardinal Stadium bleachers were condemned;
• In 2021 the ceiling at North Mianus school collapsed;
• In 2022 Central Middle School was declared unsafe for human occupancy and had to be shut down;
• For years we have had sewage back flow into below grade classrooms during severe weather events.

What will the next calamity be?

Managing our town better doesn’t require raising taxes. It requires a different vision. Acting only when a crisis is at your doorstep is no way to run a town of 63,000. It takes experienced managers who know how to plan not just for the current year, but for three, five, or ten years down the line. The Democratic slate for the BET is composed of seasoned finance and business professionals who have successfully brought that mindset to clients and businesses for decades. With your vote on November 7, we  will do it for Greenwich.

---

---

---

Don’t miss this event!

---

Grab a free costume at our Halloween swap!

October 7, 10:00 am – Noon

Save some $$, reduce waste, and meet our candidates at the Halloween Costume Swap at Greenwich Common Park.

---

Lawn sign, anyone?

Show your support for the team with a better vision for our town. Request a lawn sign here.

---

Heading out of town this fall?

Don’t forget to request your absentee ballot! And don’t think your vote doesn’t matter. In a recent election, a candidate for the Board of Education won by one vote. It only takes a moment to make your voice heard.

---

---

---

Volume 2, Number 13 • September 28, 2023

Paid for by the Greenwich Democratic Town Committee.

Greenwich Democratic Town Committee P.O. Box 126 Greenwich, CT 06836