By Stephen Janis
The Greenwich Board of Selectmen (BOS) voted Tuesday night to seek a restraining order against the Board of Education (BOE) to force it to resolve a conflict over two competing board members.
The order would seek to overturn the appointment of Jennifer Behette. She was selected by Democrats during a controversial emergency meeting with 42 minutes notice that the town has deemed a violation of state transparency laws.
It would also seek to confirm the selection of Paul Cappiali, who was approved by the BOS and sworn in by the Town Clerk after the BOE had failed to act for over 90 days to nominate a replacement for former Republican chair Karen Kowalski, who resigned in July.
The 2-1 vote along partisan lines occurred after a tense exchange between First Selectman Fred Camillo and Second Selectperson Janet Stone McGuigan. McGuigan had pushed back on the idea of the town suing a board.
“If this town takes the legal action we propose, it will be unprecedented,” she said. “There will certainly be unforeseen consequences.”
But Camillo pushed back, arguing the Democrats had struck first by hiring a lawyer who threatened to sue the town.
“The Board of Selectmen is actually defending the town and the people of Greenwich.” He went on to say, “Due to the fact that the Democrats at the BOE have ignored their own bylaws and state law, we have no other choice but to seek injunctive relief in court,” he said. “I don’t remember ever a time in this town where one party just completely ignored the wishes of another. This has never happened before.”
Benjamin Bianco, lawyer for the town, said the injunction would seek to return the board to “status quo.” That means Cappiali would take part in any future votes due to the fact he was the only member lawfully selected and had been properly sworn in, Bianco argued.
“I think the intent here is if you do have close votes, that those should be done by actual board members,” Bianco added.
Bianco said the town would ask the judge to rule before “irreparable harm” was done. That means seating the properly appointed board member before the school budget process was completed.”
“I think you have a well-founded argument that the vote was not legitimate and not legal,” Bianco said.
Karen Hirsh, chair of the BOE and a Democrat, issued a statement shortly after the BOS decision. In it, she argued the town had exceeded its authority.
“At the Board of Selectmen’s meeting tonight, the First Selectman made unfounded accusations regarding Board of Education actions in following proper procedure and precedent,” Hirsch wrote.
Selectperson Janet Stone McGuigan issued a statement following the meeting, saying that she was disappointed that her fellow selectmen had decided to take legal action against the Board of Education and that “the action is disruptive to the work of educating our students, and creates an environment of confusion and distrust. Our children are watching us and the words we choose matter. We need to be the role models they deserve.”
First a Complaint, Now an Injunction
The restraining order is the latest in a series of steps taken by the town to address controversial actions by the Democratic members of the board.
The eight-member body, comprised of four Democrats and four Republicans, had been at an impasse over the selection of a new member since Karen Kowalski’s July resignation.
Republicans on the board had approved five of six possible replacements.
However, on October 21st, the Democrats called an emergency meeting with 42 minutes’ notice in order to appoint the sole prospective board member that Republicans had opposed, Jennifer Behette.
The next day, the BOS appointed Cappiali in accordance with the town charter. The charter allowed the First Selectman to make the appointment if the board had not acted within 30 days.
Even though the BOS’s appointment was made roughly 90 days after Kowalski’s resignation, the Democrats on the board refused to recognize Cappiali.
The BOS challenged the appointment of Behette by filing a complaint with the state’s Freedom of Information Commission. The filing alleged the meeting did not meet the legal requirements of an emergency.
Connecticut law requires that an emergency meeting can be convened in response to an unexpected event that requires immediate action. Otherwise, any government body must give 24 hours’ notice before it meets.
Russell Blair, spokesman for the commission, said the BOE’s designation of the meeting as an emergency on October 21st more than likely did not fit the legal definition.
“The law says it has to be unexpected and demands immediate action. If you break down the basics, I don’t think that was an emergency,” Blair said.
Last week, the Commission denied the town’s appeal to expedite a hearing on the complaint, saying it did not have enough time for a thorough review before January.
In the appeal, the town had asked for a decision by January 15th, arguing the ongoing budget process would mean the BOE would have already made key decisions about school funding for 2026 without a properly appointed board member.
The commission said the earliest it could hear the case was in February.
Full statement from Karen Hirsh:
At the Board of Selectmen’s meeting tonight, the First Selectman made unfounded accusations regarding Board of Education actions in following proper procedure and precedent. We are the Board of Ed, not the Board of Fred, and were elected to work for the children, parents, and residents of this school district, not the First Selectman. We remind the public that this conflict began when Fred Camillo attempted to undermine the Board of Education’s authority to fill a vacancy.
The BOE followed an intentional and transparent process to fill that vacancy. Fred Camillo chose to intervene, even though the BOE already had a date scheduled to take action, ignoring the BOS process for filling vacancies, with a power grab intended to seat an ally. When his first effort failed, First Selectman Camillo hired outside counsel and filed a complaint in Hartford. Instead of waiting for a ruling from the FOI Commission, he has decided to take further legal action, forcing the taxpayers in Greenwich to continue to fund a petty, partisan grievance. First Selectman Camillo picked this fight, and tonight’s escalation diverts even more time and money away from our mission of educating our students. The people of Greenwich deserve better from their First Selectman.
Full statement from Janet Stone McGuigan:
I am deeply disappointed that my fellow Selectmen, for the purpose of appointing their preferred candidate to the Board of Education, have voted to take legal action against that State body. Not only is the expense unfair to our taxpayers, the action is disruptive to the work of educating our students, and creates an environment of confusion and distrust. Our children are watching us and the words we choose matter. We need to be the role models they deserve.
