Greenwich Selectmen To Hold Special Meeting On Board Of Ed. Vacancy

GREENWICH, CT — The Greenwich Board of Selectmen will hold a special meeting on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. regarding the Board of Education vacancy.

During the meeting, which will be held via Zoom, the selectmen will hold a "discussion and possible vote on filing a complaint with the Freedom of Information Commission challenging the legality of the Oct. 21, 2024, and Oct. 23, 2024, Board of Education meetings," according to the meeting agenda.

The meeting agenda and Zoom link can be found here.

During an emergency meeting on Oct. 21, the BOE voted 4-1 to appoint Republican Jennifer Behette, a former educator, to fill a three-month vacancy that was left after the resignation of Republican Chair Karen Kowalski.

Republican board member, Michael-Joseph Mercanti-Anthony, objected to the appointment and the reason for the emergency meeting, saying Behette was the only candidate of the six who were considered that board Republicans didn't want to work with.

First Selectman Fred Camillo has said that the emergency meeting was "illegal" and that the vote was invalid, and that the move to appoint Behette was a power grab by Democrats to try and gain chairmanship of the board.

The Board of Selectmen then held a special meeting on Oct. 22 and voted 2-1 to appoint Republican Paul Cappiali, the town's harbormaster and a candidate for state representative, to fill the vacancy. Camillo said the Board of Selectmen is statutorily permitted to take action if a vacancy is not filled within 30 days, and he said he has had "many conversations about this with town counsel."

On Oct. 23, the Board of Education held a meeting and voted to ratify Behette's appointment.

Camillo said the vote to appoint Behette was "a blatant attempt to gain a majority that was not there at the polls last year." Camillo also said BOE Democrats retained counsel, and the matter would be litigated in court.

Camillo issued a lengthy statement on the matter last week.