Swearing-In Ceremony Held For Greenwich Board Of Selectmen

GREENWICH, CT — Before an overflow audience in the Town Hall Meeting Room Friday, the newly elected members of the Greenwich Board of Selectmen were sworn-in, marking the new term for two incumbents and a first term for a new voice in the group.

Republican First Selectman Peter Tesei, who is starting his sixth term, said that while the Town of Greenwich is financially strong and remains the premiere municipality in Connecticut, there are headwinds in the community's path.

"Greenwich’s horizon also includes issues that we will continue to fight to protect the Town residents, infrastructure and vast resources," said Tesei in his prepared remarks (read the full text below). "We are poised to continue our steadfast opposition to Eversource with its plans to build a new downtown substation with a 2.3-mile route of underground transmission lines from Cos Cob to Railroad Avenue. We also are working with the Connecticut Historic Trust and the Greenwich Preservation Trust to oppose the Federal Railway Administration’s proposal to expand rail service in the area including building rail line between New Rochelle and Greens Farms. In its path are many of Greenwich’s beloved cultural and historic institutions and neighborhoods."

In addition to Tesei, also sworn in were Republican incumbent Selectman John Toner and Democratic newcomer Sandy Litvack, who replaced former Selectman Drew Marzullo. On Thursday, the board held an emotional farewell ceremony for Marzullo, who lost his re-election bid in large part because of a larceny arrest over the summer.

Litvack, who briefly considered not accepting the position, heartily thanked Tesei and Toner for being gracious in helping him in his transition from attorney to politician. But also let it be known that when he sees an opportunity to speak up and do the right thing, he will.

"I believe, and still do believe, that I bring skills, experience and a point of view other than that which has been before us," said Litvack.

Friday's event was emceed by Leora Levy, Greenwich resident and Republican National Committeewoman for Connecticut. Rev. Richard Murphy, of St. Michael the Archangel Parish, gave the Invocation, and Rabbi Yosef Deren, of Chabad of Greenwich, gave the Benediction. The National Anthem and God Bless America were sung by Ruby Durant.

Below is the full statement from First Selectman Peter Tesei:

Good morning and thank you all for joining us as we embark on our new term as Greenwich’s Board of Selectmen.

I remain humbled and thankful to the citizens of the Town of Greenwich for once again placing their trust and confidence in me by allowing me to serve a sixth term. For the last six years, I have focused our branding of what we do with and for our citizens – “we put Greenwich First”. And I look forward to growing that
with my fellow Selectman, John and Sandy during the next two years.

It is an honor to continue to work with those in the appointed and volunteer officers of our local government who provide the essential services all of our residents need. Some of those services are provided by a myriad of nonprofit agencies whose dedicated staff partner with us on a daily basis. Together we can continue to maintain Greenwich’s place on the map as the premier municipality to live, work and raise a family.

Speaking of family, I would not be able to continue to work for the 62,000 people who call Greenwich home without the unwavering support of my family – my wife Jill, and our two children – Caroline and James, who are in class today rather than being with us here. I also want to thank my parents – Ann and Nate, whose dedication to family and hard work throughout their lives provided me the principled foundation to strive to achieve my goals and dreams and to do the best I possibly can.

I thank the dedicated professional staff of the Selectmen’s Office. It is comprised of what I like to describe as the “Triple B” Town Administrator Ben Branyan, Senior Management Analyst Blaize Levitan and Executive Assistant Barbara Heins.

They are ably supported by Josephine Sargeant and long-time Staff Assistant Paula Belmont is the grande dame of all things Greenwich and keeps us all in our place.

Vision and Goals

We are a community with diverse needs and commitments. I believe we are meeting those needs through the commitments made every day by our Town staff and community volunteers. Our public – private partnerships in our community are successful. Our 2016 Greenwich Resident Satisfaction Survey proved that – residents give high marks for the essential services they receive on a daily basis. Safewise ranked Greenwich as the number 1 safest community to raise a child in America. Our schools are consistently ranked among the top in Connecticut. And Greenwich has been rated as a top community to retire to in the state.

As this new Board begins its journey, I look forward to working collaboratively and collegially in a civil and respectful manner to fulfill our objective of keeping Greenwich a desirable community, we will continue to ensure we provide our residents a shared vision about what is important to us.

Greenwich is financially sound – as evidenced that we were able to withstand the loss of state aid created by this year’s historic budget impasse in Hartford. We were able to produce a budget with a tax increase that was the lowest in decades.

We continue to plan investment in our infrastructure – be it our schools, our roads, our public parks and our sewers. We will continue to face financial challenges as we maintain our facilities and broaden those horizons to meet new community needs. I intend to do so by continuing with our prudent practice of ‘pay-as- you-go.’

As we look to the future, there is still much to be done. Greenwich has taken on the mantle of environmental stewardship. I am proud that our Town through the Conservation and Shellfish Commissions has partnered with my alma mater – and Sandy’s too – the University of Connecticut, for a long-term marine study that will
leverage an understanding of the terrestrial and estuarine environment associated with Long Island Sound and the challenges of managing it wisely in light of global change. Our pristine harbors along Long Island Sound are prime locations to be enhanced for commercial aquaculture.

Business development downtown is a key focal point to our future. We are beginning the process of engaging the community to participate in the 2019 Plan of Conservation and Development for the downtown. It is an exciting time to be able to look to the future and develop solutions to keep our downtown vibrant and a key destination for culture, the arts, dining, entertainment, shopping and living.

One of the keys to livability in Greenwich is our schools. We are continuing to work with citizens to address some of issues involving the need for growing our athletic facilities to meet the needs of our students. Speaking of students’ and the community’s needs, next week – Dec. 7 – we will be breaking ground for the new New Lebanon School. That will be a watershed event for the Byram community.

We are continuing our work with our schools and human service agencies to address the burgeoning problem of addictive prescription drugs and pain killers that is threatening the future of our youngest residents.

As we continue to improve the efficiency of Town government through technology, I am happy to report that we are on target to complete a total rebuilding of the Town’s website. This will help improve the customer experience – the experience that you, the taxpayer and resident, will have when you need to
conduct business with the Town.

Greenwich’s horizon also includes issues that we will continue to fight to protect the Town residents, infrastructure and vast resources. We are poised to continue our steadfast opposition to Eversource with its plans to build a new downtown substation with a 2.3-mile route of underground transmission lines from Cos Cob to Railroad Avenue. We also are working with the Connecticut Historic Trust and the Greenwich Preservation Trust to oppose the Federal Railway Administration’s proposal to expand rail service in the area including building rail line between New Rochelle and Greens Farms. In its path are many of Greenwich’s beloved cultural and historic institutions and neighborhoods.

In closing – thank you all for attending today’s ceremony. Your support is appreciated not only today - it will be throughout the course of the next two years. May God bless all of you and your families for a happy holiday season and healthy and prosperous 2018.

Photo 1: First Selectman Peter Tesei, center, being sworn in by Town Clerk Carmella Budkins, right, as his wife, Jill, looks on; Photo 2: Selectman Sandy Litvack; Photo 3: John Toner, left, being sworn in by Budkins; Photo 4: Greenwich Police Department Honor Guard. Photo credit: Alfred Branch