Why you should vote for the A Team

In the November 7 election for local government, the Democratic candidates will be running on Row A of your ballot and the Republican candidates on Row B. 

At last week’s Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET) debate, the Democratic candidates’ financial expertise was on display—a  vision for keeping our mill rate low, fixing the deteriorating school buildings that threaten kids’ safety and parents’ property values, and avoiding wasteful cost increases. 

Still not convinced that Row A is for you? Well, a vote for Row B gets you:

Harry Fisher, whose social media feed shows what he cares about: perpetuating Trump’s Big Lie, claiming that January 6 was a friendly tour of the capital, and denying climate change. Fisher was instrumental in demanding that GHS students remove any mention of an “emergency” in a climate resolution they placed before the town.

David Alfano, whose efforts to get an elderly client to sell him her home for less than half its market value necessitated the intervention of the state attorney general who successfully stopped the deal. Alfano did not utter a single word during the 90 minute League Women Voters BET candidate debate.

Nisha Arora, who has voted three times against funding Old Greenwich School, and did not vote for the important Central Middle School project just days ago.  Her continuing efforts to challenge the Board of Education-approved Education Specifications has slowed the project’s progress.  Arora sends out biased surveys and spreads false information, which our schools superintendent has condemned as “reprehensible and egregious”.

Lucia Jansen, the pugnacious chair of the town legislature’s Budget Oversight Committee, who hosted a “Budget Workshop” which was considered so biased against Greenwich schools, that four members of her committee voted against it, due to its deception. She so frequently uses the royal “we” when talking about the BOC, that it prompted the legislature’s moderator to issue a caution: “your emails consistently refer to ‘we’ and I am not clear who the ‘we’ is. In order for the chair to speak on behalf of the committee, the committee has to agree to the content that is being shared or discussed.”

Karen Fassuliotis, who says she supports fully funding our “quality schools, parks, police, fire and other town services,” but who voted against fire trucks, and police communications equipment. Two days ago she voted “no” to funding the Central Middle School rebuild, dismissing the input of educators and experts, while ignoring state requirements and the voices of over 700 residents, to declare “this project is totally out of control!”

Leslie Tarkington, who has been a BET member for 15 years, and chairs the budget committee, but watched a decade of historically low interest rates pass, without locking in bonds that could have fixed crumbling infrastructure for hundreds of millions of dollars less than today. She is known for her short term approach to budgeting, focusing only on the current year and ignoring major issues coming down the road.

Had enough? Vote for the A Team. The Democratic candidates have the experience and vision to turn things around.

The Democratic slate running for the BET has over 150 years of proven experience in financial management. They know how to strategically plan with a 5-year, 10-year or 20-year horizon, and not just focusing on how to fix the latest ceiling collapse. They have successfully delivered for their clients, and they will do the same for Greenwich. Be sure to vote for the A Team on November 7.

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Voting guide to preserve the RTM

You may have read the NY Times article about “signgate” and the efforts by right-wing extremists to take over the Representative Town Meeting and install a loyal cadre that will vote as they instruct. The Voting Moms recommend voting only for the independent bipartisan slate.

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Volume 2, Number 20 • October 26, 2023

Paid for by the Greenwich Democratic Town Committee.

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