Following last week’s First Selectman debate at Greenwich High School’s Performing Arts Center, candidates for Selectman took the stage to discuss the issues facing Greenwich.
Lauren Rabin, a republican, is running alongside First Selectman candidate, Fred Camillo. Rabin mentioned during the debate that she left her job at Gartner, Inc., in Stamford to focus on running for Selectman. She is currently on the Board of Education, after getting elected in 2015. She served as a member of the Representative Town Meeting for four years, and was on the town’s Board of Social Services from 2012 to 2015.
Litvack, a democrat, is running with First Selectman candidate, Jill Oberlander. Litvack has served with Selectman John Toner and First Selectman Peter Tesei on the Board of Selectman since 2017. Toner and Tesei are not seeking re-election. Litvack is a former Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice, and a Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for Walt Disney.
Rabin and Litvack each took turns answering submitted questions from the public.
When asked what special projects they’d like to work on if elected, Litvack said that coming up with an economic development plan is paramount.
“We have a slogan ‘Think Greenwich.’ That’s not a plan,” he said of Tesei’s marketing and branding campaign for the town. “Greenwich needs to have an economic development plan. I know how to do that. I did that at Disney. You can’t have a company, and you can’t have a town that remains viable, without an economic development plan. More than the plan, you need to be able to execute on the plan.”
Rabin, as a member of the BOE, said she’d like to help embrace the new Superintendent, Dr. Toni Jones, so she could lead the school system into the future. Greenwich has had tremendous turnover in the district administration over the years.
Rabin also added that she’d want to focus on various health issues affecting residents. “Whether it’s mental health, people have issues with substance abuse, alcoholism. There’s a lot that our seniors are struggling with, and there’s a lot our youth are struggling with,” Rabin added.
When asked if they are satisfied with the nominations process within the Board of Selectmen, the two had differing views. One of the major duties of the Board of Selectmen is to nominate candidates for boards and commissions. Nominations must then be approved by the RTM.
Rabin said there is “always room for improvement in any process”, and that there are some issues in attracting talent and getting the word out about open positions. She also said she’s not sure if the various boards and commissions are regularly speaking with each other to share best practices.
Litvack argued that there’s no reason why a second vote is needed from the RTM to approve candidates. He said candidates have often been turned down “after getting caught in a political maelstrom” after the Board of Selectmen has time selecting who they thought were the right people for the positions.
“If a Board of Selectmen selects candidates for volunteer positions on a board, the responsibility ought to end there. In my perfect world, we’d pick the people, and if we pick the wrong people, you elect new selectmen. It’s very simple.”
Rabin disagreed.
“We’re three people in a community of 60,000. I think there’s a healthy regard of getting more people into the process, whether it’s as many as it is within the RTM, maybe there’s a restructuring in the appointments committee, but I don’t think three people can make the decision. It should be a little bit broader than three people out of 60,000,” she said.
On the proposed plan to redevelop the Greenwich train station, both candidates voiced support over a potential new train station, but said they did not support the proposed redevelopment deal that would transfer air rights to The Ashforth Company, which owns Greenwich Plaza.
Litvack, who voted against the Municipal Improvement for the project, said the deal was an example of “an absence of leadership and an absence of transparency” on Greenwich’s side. He added that he would get the right expertise and the right people to figure out the best deal for the town.
“There’s a bargain to be made. The truth, in this negotiation, we were amateurs. Next time around, we won’t be,” he said.
“We’re going to have to do what’s best for the town, and protect the taxpayer dollar. I applaud what Ashforth has been doing; they’re in business and they want to make a profit. But I want what we need protected as well,” Rabin said.
On funding projects in town, both agreed that prioritization is key, and that schools must be improved. Rabin, like her running mate Camillo, is a proponent of public/private partnerships if they make sense. Litvack agreed, and said he would favor such partnerships if they’re fair.
On the environment and climate change, both agreed that Greenwich needs to come up with a vision and goals to address the issues.
The two said that field remediation is the most urgent environmental issue in town. Rabin added that waste is another problem that must be addressed.
“We are a wasteful society. I am very disappointed how we do not take the personal responsibility to reduce, reuse, recycle,” she said, adding that the BOE recently voted to get rid of styrofoam trays.
“There is climate change, and we do have to deal with it,” Litvack remarked. “We also have to make sure that we do whatever we can as individuals to make sure our government, state and federal, recognize climate change is real, environmental change is important, and restrictions and things that are being removed have an impact on us every single day.”
When asked if there was anything that wasn’t covered over the 45 minute debate, Litvack criticized leadership, both at the local and state level, for not speaking out about issues like climate change, affirmative action or immigration policy.
“Leadership, in my judgement, requires those of us who report to the leaders, to stand up and speak out. I know this gets terribly political, but this is political. It shouldn’t be, but it is. People have got to learn to put party aside and brand things for what they are,” he said. “If we don’t do that, we’re going to have the same kind of divisive language in this town that we have in Washington, D.C.”
Rabin said that leadership is critical, but that it’s also about uniting the community, not dividing it. “In order to be a leader, people need to want to follow you. So proclaiming yourself a leader without followers doesn’t make anyone a leader,” she said.
Rabin went on to mention parking and aging in place as two major issues facing Greenwich that she’d like to tackle if elected.
“We have more cars than we have people in Greenwich. We’ve got speeding, folks that don’t put their blinkers on. It’s hard to get around town when you’ve got so many drivers that are either speeding or making bad decisions,” she added.
Litvack agreed, and said the traffic problem ought to get a lot of attention early on when a new Board is in place.
Rabin said she also wants to address the aging population in town.
“We need to think about folks that have worked hard and tirelessly and raised their children and lived here for 40 plus years. How do we make the community accessible and affordable for them so they can age in place? I want to retire here in Greenwich as well,” she said.
To watch last week’s debate in its entirety, go to Youtube and search Greenwich Community Television account.
