Greenwich Seeks To Honor Longtime Volunteer With Street Name Change

GREENWICH, CT — The town of Greenwich is looking to honor a longtime volunteer who has made an impact in both local government and affordable housing.

A street that runs through the Armstrong Court development could be named after Sam Romeo, the current chairman of Greenwich Communities, formerly known as the Greenwich Housing Authority.

First Selectman Fred Camillo said Greenwich Communities Executive Director Anthony Johnson reached out to him with the idea several weeks ago.

Camillo noted the renaming, if ultimately approved, would be symbolic only and no street addresses at the development would change. He likened it to the renaming of a street around Greenwich Hospital several years ago in honor of former hospital President and CEO Frank Corvino, and mentioned Sam Romeo Circle or Sam Romeo Drive as examples.

Romeo told Patch he was surprised to get a call from Johnson and Camillo a few weeks ago about the idea.

"It's a humbling experience," Romeo said. "I do what I do, but I didn't expect to get a street named after me. I was kind of saying, 'Why me?'"

Romeo is a lifelong Greenwich resident who served in leadership positions on the Representative Town Meeting and Republican Town Committee for over 20 years. He also served as an ombudsman for the state of Connecticut Department of Social Services.

Additionally, Romeo is the chairman of the Eastern Sector CAPP Committee, and a member of the Board of Directors for Greenwich Emergency Medical Service. He has owned and operated his own business, Command Packaging Supply Products, for several decades.

Notably, Romeo has contributed to Greenwich's affordable housing stock through various projects and property renovations.

"The things we've been able to accomplish under his leadership have been incredible; things we couldn't have accomplished previously that we had tried to accomplish, and we just ran into roadblock after roadblock," Johnson told the Board of Selectmen during a regularly scheduled meeting on May 13.

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Johnson highlighted the $100 million redevelopment of Armstrong Court, as well as improvements at Wilbur Peck and Greenwich Close, among other projects.

"He deserves it, and we will be honored to support that and make that recommendation to you to make that happen," Johnson said.

Camillo recalled his time with Romeo as a member of the RTM in the 1990s.

"We've had members of the RTM that you can count on one hand that have been legendary. Sam was one of those people back when I was on the RTM that people went to," Camillo said. "He's really put his heart and soul into the housing authority like I've never seen before...

Camillo said there's precedent to honoring a figurehead in Greenwich like this while they're alive to see it. He mentioned the 2017 dedication of the John Margenot Atrium at the Greenwich Public Safety Complex to former First Selectman John Margenot.

"I certainly think this is well-deserved. We couldn't have gotten all these things done without you working in tandem with him and providing the leadership to get these units done," Camillo told Johnson.

Town Attorney Barbara Schellenberg said potential renaming falls under the Board of Selectmen's naming rights policy, and that the item must be heard at two regularly scheduled selectmen meetings.

In between the meetings, the item must be referred to "an appropriate RTM Committee" to gather comments, Schellenberg said.

Camillo said the process would be "more intense and a little more complicated" if resident addresses were changing, but since the renaming would be done in a symbolic way, it requires just selectmen approval and not full RTM approval.

The Board of Selectmen's next scheduled meeting is June 12.